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Beury Building, Penn Wynn House among Philly recipients of state historic rehab tax credit

The Philadelphia awards are part of $3 million in credits to preserve historic buildings statewide.

The Beury Building, near Broad Street and Erie Avenue.
The Beury Building, near Broad Street and Erie Avenue.Read moreJacob Adelman

Pennsylvania officials have awarded $810,000 in tax credits for five historic-rehabilitation projects throughout Philadelphia, including $200,000 each for work at the Beury Building on North Broad Street and the Penn Wynne House apartments in West Philadelphia's Wynnefield neighborhood.

The Philadelphia awards are part of $3 million in credits to preserve historic buildings statewide for the fiscal year ended June 30, Gov. Wolf's office said in a release Thursday.

"Pennsylvania is proud of the historic buildings that define our unique cities and towns," Wolf said in the release. "The economic benefits of historic rehabilitation and the impact of the historic tax credit program go far beyond one building and has the potential to spur reinvestment and revitalization in historic communities across the state."

The Beury Building funding will go toward converting the long-blighted historic high-rise at Erie Avenue into apartments, a block of which are to be set aside as affordable units, the governor's office said. The $38.1 million project is being undertaken by socially minded development group Shift Capital.

The credit for Penn Wynne House on Bryn Mawr Avenue near Wynnefield Avenue, meanwhile, will fund a $47.4 million face-lift for the Midcentury Modern apartment building, which previously accommodated largely low-income renters. Developer Cross Properties, which acquired the 17-story building in 2016, has rechristened it "the Dane," with plans to finish upgrades, including a dog park and saltwater pool, early next year, according to its website.

Other grants include:

  1. A $200,000 credit for work at of the former Max Levy Autograph Inc. precision instruments business near SEPTA's Wayne Junction Regional Rail station. Developer Ken Weinstein's Philly Office Retail LLC is converting the three-story 1902 warehouse into a 21-unit apartment building as part of a larger revitalization initiative involving at least seven properties in the station area.

  2. A $150,000 credit to help renovate the Mecky Co. building, a former tricycle factory near 17th Street and Allegheny Avenue in the city's Tioga section, as part of a new campus for Cristo Rey Philadelphia High School, a private Catholic school for low-income students.

  3. A $60,000 credit for Civetta Property Group's rehabilitation of the rowhouse building at 257 N. Third St. in Old City into apartments with ground floor retail.

The Historic Preservation Tax Credit program is administered by the state Department of Community and Economic Development and the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.