November 17, 2022
Courtesy/Shift Capital
The Beury Building in North Philadelphia, best-known as the graffiti-tagged 'Boner 4ever' building, is being restored by developer Shift Capital as a Marriott hotel.
The Beury Building, famed for its irreverent "Boner 4ever" graffiti that smiles upon North Broad Street, has been undergoing an extensive restoration project this year as part of a plan to transform the vacant property into a Marriott Hotel with restaurants and a rooftop bar.
Preservationists have sometimes remarked that the 14-story structure, built between 1926 and 1933, has "good bones" — a phrase that takes on new meaning when it comes to this Art Deco beauty at the intersection of Broad Street, Germantown Avenue and Erie Avenue.
Historic Beury Building located at 3701 N. Broad St.
Developer Shift Capital, which has spearheaded the building's renovation, now plans to add an eight-story addition to the building's rear, northeast wall. The developer submitted a proposal to the Philadelphia Historical Commission that calls for an attached structure that would include seven floors of hotel rooms beginning above ground from the third story. The lower portion of the addition would offer open access to a surface parking area.
Developer Shift Capital has proposed an eight-story addition along the northeast wall of the historic Beury Building, which is being redeveloped as a Marriott Hotel.
The exterior of the new building would be constructed of masonry, with "a mix of light-colored buff brick and stucco" that would be compatible with the Beury Building's limestone, brick and terra cotta materials. The Historical Commission has recommended approval for the addition.
The original plan for the Marriott Hotel within the existing structure called for 138 guest rooms. The addition would include another 21 rooms, bringing the total to 159.
An aerial rendering of the restoration plan for the Beury Building in North Philadelphia.
A view of the proposed Beury Building addition looking northeast from North Broad Street and West Airdrie Street.
The Buery Building was designed by architect William Harold Lee as the home of the National Bank of North Philadelphia. It was later renamed after Charles Beury, the bank's first president and a former president of Temple University. The structure was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985, but has sat vacant for more than 40 years.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Shift Capital had planned to redevelop the building into a mixed-use property that would bring new affordable and market rate housing to the city's Hunting Park and Nicetown-Tioga neighborhoods. Those plans were reconsidered in favor of the hotel proposal, much like the evolution of the Divine Lorraine restoration further south. Shift Capital also aims to build a neighboring residential building during a later phase of the project.
The "Boner 4ever" and "Forever Boner" tags on the Buery Building's north and south sides, spanning an impressive seven floors, are the bold work of two graffiti artists, "Boner" and "Forever," who collaborated to give the building a place in Philadelphia's urban lore well beyond its years of occupancy.
Renderings of the restoration plan don't display the graffiti in the building's future. Much to the chagrin of admirers, it didn't quite make the cut for historic preservation. (4ever is a relative term, and really, anything lasting longer than four hours in this department is a miracle at best and a serious health scare at worst. You can still buy pins, keychains, magnets, stickers or this historical marker T-shirt that commemorates the graffiti).
In March, Shift Capital shared a few photos of the preliminary construction phase that's now underway at the Beury Building. This includes cleaning out and repairing the structure to get it ready for construction and development. The developer also shared a rendering of the lobby of the upcoming Marriott.
A rendering of the hotel lobby planned at the upcoming Marriott inside the historic Beury Building in North Philadelphia.
It was anticipated that the early stages of the project would be completed this summer, but a timeline for the opening of the hotel has not yet been determined.
The later stages of the project will feature the construction of The Residences at the Beury, a neighboring building that will include 113 residences on five stories, with 13,750 square feet of ground floor construction. Plans call for 63 market-rate units and 50 affordable units, in addition to shared community spaces.
A rendering of the Residences at the Beury planned in North Philadelphia.
A second rendering of the Residences at the Beury planned in North Philadelphia.
The restoration of the Buery Building anchors a larger plan to revitalize this section of North Broad Street, where the city is planning a redesigned public space at the busy intersection near the building.
One of these days, the graffiti must come down. If it's in service of advancing the long-term turnaround of the North Broad Street corridor, Philadelphia should bear no phallus — er, no malice!
