Camden's iconic Victor Lofts building up for sale

The Victor Lofts - a 341-unit luxury apartment building, hailed during its renovation a decade ago as a sign of Camden's rebirth - is up for sale.

The waterfront high-rise is listed with CBRE Inc., a commercial real estate firm with offices throughout the region, for an undisclosed price.

Developer Carl Dranoff converted the old Radio Corp. of America "Nipper" Building into the 356,420-square-foot apartment building in 2003, and said Tuesday that the building is at 93 percent occupancy.

"Although many questioned our initial vision, the Victor offered luxury loft apartment living with stunning views of the Philadelphia skyline, unprecedented proximity to mass transit, and unmatched service and amenities on the Camden waterfront," a Dranoff spokesman said in a statement.

"We proved that people wanted to live on the Camden waterfront. We are proud that the Victor has helped set the stage for a renaissance here, and to that end, we are committed to finding the right buyer to continue fulfilling its potential."

The firm said it was still committed to Camden's revitalization and hoped to develop the adjacent Radio Lofts site, which it owns, "in the very near future."

In 2003, Dranoff received a $3 million loan from the Delaware River Port Authority for the Victor Lofts conversion. The loan was to remain interest-free until 2009, when Dranoff was to start repaying it in monthly installments of $23,259 until the end of 2014, according to the agreement.

The loan balance would be paid in a lump sum, according to the agreement.

But the agreement also states that Dranoff's obligation to make payments is limited to the Victor's "available cash flow."

Camden County Freeholder Jeffrey L. Nash, who is vice chairman of the DRPA board, said Tuesday night that no payments toward the loan had been made, but cited the agreement tying payments to the Victor's cash flow.

"We're taking a very hard look at that loan and all the other existing economic development loans, because the DRPA is anxious to get out of the economic development loan business and focus on our core responsibility, transit and bridges," Nash said.

Nash said he was unaware until Tuesday that the property had been put up for sale, but speculated that recent announcements about new development activity in Camden, including a waterfront 76ers practice facility and an international energy company, might have sparked Dranoff's decision.

"The market in Camden has exploded in a positive way, and maybe he's taking advantage of that economic upturn."

The U.S. Attorney's Office has been investigating DRPA loans since April 2013, zeroing in on millions of dollars of "economic development" spending.

Dranoff has said his loan is uninvolved in the probe. DRPA officials have said they believe the Dranoff loan is among the projects being examined by the federal grand jury.

Residents of the Victor include State Sen. Donald Norcross, who was elected to Congress on Tuesday, city school Superintendent Paymon Rouhanifard, and several Rutgers-Camden professors, school district teachers, and other area professionals.

Joe Durkin, a chemistry teacher at Woodrow Wilson High School, has lived in a one-bedroom loft at the Victor for 51/2 years.

He pays $1,300 a month for the loft, which he said he has loved, though he just purchased a house in Mount Laurel.

"I always recommend it. It's a little pricey, but I've enjoyed the management and being right on the waterfront," Durkin said.

He called the residents a range of young and old, students and professionals.

"It's a pretty eclectic mix here, that's part of what I like about it, it's kind of like the pub," he said of the first-floor Victor Pub, which is part of the property. "One night you get a college crowd, the next a ball game crowd, it's always a changing dynamic."

Rutgers-Camden professor Stephen Danley has lived in the Victor for a little more than a year. He said he would be surprised if occupancy issues led to the sale.

"I'd think it would make more sense that they think it's a good time to extract a high price," Danley said. "There's been a lot of people coming through and looking at the place. I was watching the Eagles game on Sunday and five separate parties were looking at the building," he added.

The six-story structure (not including its tower) is all that remains of a 58-acre industrial complex.

The building began as the headquarters of Eldridge B. Johnson's Victor Talking Machine Co. in 1901. The company was sold to RCA in 1929, then morphed into a General Electric aerospace division in 1986. Then the building became the Victor, the commercial-and-residential venture owned by Dranoff Properties, in 2003.

Dranoff, recounting the recent history of the building in an e-mail, noted that the birthplace of the Victrola, unused since 1992, was "vandalized and a blight to the surrounding waterfront" when his development firm acquired it.

Dranoff Properties, his note said, turned it into an apartment building with "a 24-hour, four-star quality lobby with concierge, an exclusive three-story rooftop fitness center, a well-appointed club room, conference/media centers, a magnificently landscaped atrium featuring furnished terraces and decks, and finally 25,000 square feet of on-site retail."

The restoration cost more than $65 million, according to the note, most from private sources.