A prominent West Philly-based developer is in the process of buying the ominous Croydon apartment building at 49th and Locust, which has become a haven for squatters and was the site of a rooftop murder in 2007.

Orens Brothers Real Estate Inc., whose main office is on the 4400 block of Chestnut, is expected to finalize the purchase of the building soon and begin work to rehabilitate the building by early next month, Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell said by phone yesterday. The firm’s officials told community members during a meeting on Monday that it plans to keep the complex’s original eight-story center structure and four-story wings intact and renovate its 127 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartment units.

A Sheriff’s Office official confirmed that building had been sold last week for $1.75 million. The building was put up for sheriff’s sale in January because the previous owners owed more than $200,000 in back taxes.

Orens Brothers has restored and rented several buildings in Philadelphia, including the luxury apartments at 2200 Arch St. In West Philly, the firm owns the apartment building on the southside of the 4400 block of Walnut (4404-4418 Walnut St.).

A boarded up eyesore rising above the West Philadelphia High School athletic field, the Croydon is known to squatters as “Paradise City.” The building was known across the city for a few days in June 2007 when a squatter, 28-year-old Tim Bradly of Philadelphia, was found dead on the building’s roof. Another squatter confessed to beating Bradly and dropping a cinder block on his head.

The Croydon building plays a large role in the documentary Squatter Days by James C. Fattu.

Construction has begun on a new 8-story apartment building at the former parking lot on the southwest corner of 49th and Spruce. The building will include 150 residential units from the first through seventh floors and a roof deck on the eighth floor. The project also includes 41 parking spaces and 63 bicycle spaces on the ground floor.  Continue Reading

Looking from Spruce Street, the proposed 9-story building at 49th and Spruce.

Developers presented preliminary plans last night for a nine-story apartment building with ground-floor retail space at 49th and Spruce Streets to a standing-room-only crowd that voiced concerns about property taxes, parking and affordable rents.

Proposed by the developers who refurbished the nearby Croydon building, Hillel Tsarfati and Kfir Binnfeld, the 160-unit building would be built on the parking lot on the southwest corner of 49th and Spruce. The mostly one-bedroom apartments would be marketed toward “young professionals,” with rents 15 to 20 percent below market rate – similar to Croydon, Binnfeld said.

The building would include eight floors of 20 apartments each and retail on the first floor. Floors would include 12 one-bedroom apartments, 6 two-bedrooms and two studios each. Rents would be roughly the same as Croydon – currently a minimum of $975 for a two-bedroom and $850 for a one-bedroom, according to the proposal.  Continue Reading

A 9-story, 130-unit apartment building with ground-floor retail is proposed to be built on the parking lot at 4900 Spruce Street (see rendering above), and this will be the focus of a Garden Court Community Association (GCCA) meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 10.

“Information has been spotty at best so this is intended as a cross RCO community meeting,” writes GCCA Vice President and Zoning Chair Lauren Hansen-Flaschen. GCCA has been designated as an official RCO (Registered Community Organization) for the project, and developers are expected to be present at the meeting.

The building’s proposed height of nine stories and other features will require zoning variances. The developers of the nearby 8-story Croydon Hall Apartments, a once notorious squatters’ haven, are proposing the project. They own the parking lot at 49th and Spruce and lease spots there to Croydon residents. But the lot has remained mostly empty.

The meeting will take place at The Enterprise Center, 4548 Market Street, beginning at 6:30 p.m.

The portion of the 4400 block of Chestnut that would be the front of a new apartment complex on the 4400 block of Chestnut. The two buildings to the right of the gym would be demolished to make room. (Photo from Google Streetview)

West Philly-based property developers Orens Brothers presented a more detailed plan for a high-end, 150-unit complex on the 4400 block of Chestnut Street to the Spruce Hill Community Association zoning committee last night.

Orens Brothers, whose headquarters are in the current glass-fronted building at 4415 Chestnut, have been acquiring mostly vacant properties on that block, on 44th Street and Ludlow Street that they will demolish to make room for a planned five-story glass and brick building on Chestnut that would extend north to Ludlow and east to 44th (behind businesses near 44th and Chestnut). That building would connect via a covered walkway to another new building on the 4400 block of Ludlow.

Yep, it’s complicated. The complex would house 150 mostly two-bedroom, market-rate apartments. Fit Gym, which is located in the current building (and is also owned by the Orens Brothers) would be moved to the first floor of the Ludlow Street building. The plan also includes 1,500 square feet of commercial space along Chestnut Street that could accommodate a small café or deli. The proposal includes 65 off-street parking spots on the property.

Scott (right) and Guy Orens present plans for the project to the Spruce Hill Community Association zoning committee last night. (Photo by West Philly Local)

The Orens Brothers, who have developed several properties in West Philly including the Croydon building, offered some very preliminary ideas to the committee last month. This time was more formal and a dozen or so nearby residents were on hand to ask questions about parking, property taxes and time frames.

“It’s gentrification at its best,” said Darryl Thomas, the owner of Philly Cuts at 4409 Chestnut, who said he is not against the project but has many questions.

While the project will likely bring more activity to an area that includes a lot vacant lots and deteriorating properties, he and other wonder what impact it will have on the small businesses and single-family homes that are left standing nearby.

The project would be built on a patchwork of parcels and many will need variances for the project to go ahead. Nothing official was decided at last night’s meeting. There will be at least one more meeting with the zoning committee before the project goes before the city’s Zoning Board of Adjustments.

Scott (left) and Guy Orens talk to the Spruce Hill Zoning Committee on Wednesday about very rough plans for a residential building on the 4400 block of Chestnut. (Photo by Mike Lyons / West Philly Local)

A local developer gave the Spruce Hill Community Association zoning committee a sneak peak of their plan for a residential complex that would dramatically change the 4400 block of Chestnut Street.

Scott and Guy Orens, owners of Orens Brothers Real Estate, presented a project that was very early in the planning stages to build a five-story, 150-unit on the north side of the 4400 block of Chestnut that require the demolition of some vacant and owner-occupied homes and a warehouse along Ludlow Street.

The two brothers, whose firm has built or renovated several large residential buildings in the city including the once-abandoned Croydon building at 49th and Locust, were not yet seeking any approval for their plan from the committee.

They have already purchased many of the properties that would be required to build the complex, which would be one- and two-bedroom rentals, but public discussions about things like building design, materials and facade appearance have not yet begun.

“We are willing to participate in creating something that you will like,” Scott Orens told the committee.  Continue Reading