One of Philadelphia’s landmark properties, the Wanamaker Building, is up for grabs and is expected to sell for $200 million or more.
The property listing for the 12-story, 1.9 million-square-foot chunk of real estate situated across from City Hall on Market Street was reported by Philadelphia Business Journal’s Natalie Kosteini on Wednesday.
“Wanamakers is a Philadelphia icon, both for its grandeur of a bygone era as one of America’s first department stores and for its place in the lives of many a Philadelphian – the Christmas Light Show, fancy window displays and 'Meet Me at the Eagle,'” wrote James Jennings of Philadelphia Magazine.
Since its construction in 1911, the Wanamaker Building has stood as an
architectural achievement, becoming the first department store in the city. Today, it is the second-largest building in the Central Business District.
It's home to the Macy’s department store on its bottom three floors and The Crystal Tearoom on its top floor. The building is 97 percent occupied, Kosteini wrote.
“Wanamakers is a Philadelphia icon, both for its grandeur of a bygone era as one of America’s first department stores and for its place in the lives of many a Philadelphian – the Christmas Light Show, fancy window displays and 'Meet Me at the Eagle,'” wrote James Jennings of Philadelphia Magazine.
The potential sale won't impact Macy’s, Kosteini wrote. Its lease of the first three floors of the building runs through 2027.
The building is being sold by Amerimar Enterprises Inc. of Philadelphia, which has had an ownership interest in the space since 1997 and has poured more than $6 million in upgrades and conversion work into the property, and the former Behringer Harvard, now referred to as Tier REIT of Dallas.
Read the full Philadelphia Business Journal article here.