New York-based group to build apartments at site once eyed by electrical workers’ union charter school
Six Acre Capital paid $3.8 million for the 1525 N. American St. property last week and plans to begin work on the project before the end of the month.
A newly formed New York-based real estate group plans a 100-unit apartment complex on the empty South Kensington lot where the charter high school backed by Philadelphia’s electrical workers’ union had previously proposed a new classroom building.
Six Acre Capital paid $3.8 million last week for the property at 1525 N. American St. and plans to begin work on the project this month, co-founder Mark Lansman said Monday.
Six Acre acquired the property from the Streamline Group, which was founded by late developer Sean Schellenger, and real estate investor Sean Frankel.
Before Schellenger was fatally stabbed in 2018, he and Frankel proposed an apartment building at the site with free ground-floor coworking space for nearby residents to start new businesses, a project they named “Techadelphia.”
The Philadelphia Electrical and Technology Charter High School (PETCHS) later disclosed plans to buy the property for $3.6 million and to build a $21.1 million classroom building at the site.
School leaders said they had abandoned those plans early this year, around the time Six Acre received its first zoning permits for the apartment project.
In addition to the 100 apartments, the five- and six-story complex is to have ground-floor space for a coffee shop or restaurant and six lower-level commercial units for “artisans and makers,” said Jake Borden, another cofounder.
The apartments could be ready for their first occupants within two years, Lansman said.
Lansman and Borden founded SIx Acre after working together at Churchill Real Estate Holdings in New York. The newly formed firm plans to focus on development opportunities in Philadelphia.