February 19, 2015
Divine Lorraine Hotel/Facebook
The Divine Lorraine Hotel stands at the corner of Broad Street and Fairmount Avenue in North Philadelphia.
Plans to turn the Divine Lorraine building on North Broad Street into a boutique hotel have turned into plans for 126 apartments and two levels of retail, according to Philadelphia Magazine.
A lower-level "garden veranda" will expose the southern side of the building and be used as a retail corridor along Ridge Avenue, while the main level will incorporate both retail and the lobby.
Chris Cordaro of EB Realty Management told the magazine that the company wants the project done as soon as possible, noting that a hotel would be too long of a process.
Backed by Billy Procida of Procida Funding (he's backed a number of EBRM's new project and loves Philly), the development budget for the project is $43 million and could get started as early as May, according to a report in the Philadelphia Business Journal. Alan Greenberger, deputy mayor for economic development, has taken a more conservative approach and hopes the project gets off the ground within 10 months.
EB Realty Management estimates the project would take about 18 months to complete.
