We were in West Philly yesterday and noticed demolition notices at 4101 Market St., a shuttered Pep Boys with some spectacular signage.
So what's happening here? The property is really large, covering almost an acre, so the opportunity is there to build something pretty significant. And something significant is exactly what developers University Place Associates have in mind. If the name of this developer sounds familiar, it's because they're the guys who built 2.0 University Place, a LEED certified office building at 41st & Powelton. You can actually see the back of the building in the photo above. In an effort that would make Microsoft proud, they've named their plan for the 4100 block of Market Street 3.0 University Place. Check out these sweet renderings:
The building will rise six stories and will contain 189K sqft of leasable space. Though the building is located close to transit, it will still have 108 parking spots, all located on the basement level. Like its predecessor, it will come precertified LEED Platinum, with a collection of green elements. Notably, the green roof will manage stormwater that hits the building. And it will be a wonderful place for people working in the building to enjoy their lunch break.
The new building will look great and it's clearly a higher and better use than a one-story Pep Boys. Most important to us though, is that this developer built an office building around the corner a couple of years ago and acheived such success that they're looking to do it again. With any luck, they'll have a similar experience with this building, and we'll soon have news about 4.0 University Place. Or maybe by then they'll call it University Place '18.