New high-end residential project slated for Boyd’s block in Center City

Two buildings owned by the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT) on Chestnut Street and the former site of Freeman’s auction house at 1820 Chestnut St. will be the base for a high-end condo-and-rental building with fewer than 100 units.

PFT has reached an agreement of sale for the two properties at 1812-1816 Chestnut St. with Tim Shaaban’s Astoban Investments. In recent weeks demolition permits have been pulled on both buildings, which neighbor historic clothier Boyd’s.

The Center City Residents Association (CCRA) reports that the developer is going to try to preserve the facades of the union buildings and the historic Freedman’s auction house.

“The good news is they’re not being torn down,” said Richard Gross, president of CCRA. “Boyd’s is next door. The Belgravia is across the street. We want this project to reflect the beautiful historic context of that street. [Shaaban] understands that and he’s willing to negotiate with us.”

Shaaban did not respond to a request for comment, but Gross said CCRA met with the developer this week and discussed the project in-depth with him.

Shaaban had previous plans to build a 21-unit structure over the building that previously housed Freeman’s. The updated proposal revealed to CCRA would expand that project to encompass the neighboring union-owned buildings and place the new overbuild over those two structures while leaving Freeman’s intact.

“This is not going to be significantly different than what he had planned for Freeman’s,” Gross said. “But he’s going to retain Freeman’s as it is and put the three together and likely put the overbuild on the other two buildings.”

The teachers’ union confirmed that it plans to sell the buildings to Astoban, although the deal is not final. The union would not reveal the sale terms.

“PFT has reached an agreement with Astoban Investments for the sale of the two properties at this time,” said Hillary Linardopoulos, a PFT spokesperson. “They are still early in the due diligence period and are still exploring use options for an acquisition.”

Gross described the proposed Astoban building as substantially smaller than the towers that are planned in the immediate vicinity. According to Inquirer reporting in 2019, Astoban’s earlier version of the project would have been 14 stories, and this one will not be radically larger, making it about a quarter of the scale of its neighbors proposed by Pearl Properties at 19th and Sansom and Goodman Properties at 19th and Chestnut.

A precise unit count is premature — Shaaban hasn’t yet hired an architect — but in his meeting with CCRA, he estimated between 30 and 40 condo units for purchase and an equal number of rentals.

Astoban’s business model is heavily focused on small, high-end condo buildings that rise above and behind historical buildings. Their projects include the 12-unit tower behind the Dilworth House on Washington Square park and the 10-unit overbuild on Walnut Street between 21st and 22nd Streets behind the facade of classic Center City townhouses.

The limited scope of these projects — and their carefully selected locations — have allowed Shaaban’s condos to sell out even as the larger market for such units in Philadelphia has struggled. Carl Dranoff’s 107-unit, 47-story Arthaus condo tower on South Broad Street has struggled, while the 48-story, 65-unit Laurel on Rittenhouse Square has sold more strongly but hasn’t come close to selling out yet.

The Chestnut Street proposal would be larger than Astoban’s other recent projects, but the risk would be lessened by splitting the building between condos and apartments (which the Laurel also did on a larger scale).

“Tim is sensitive to not being overburdened, so my sense is he thinks it’s the right size and it’ll absorb in a reasonable amount of time,” Gross said.

Astoban’s ambitions on the block stretch to before the pandemic — the project had some of its permits when COVID-19 struck. But it stalled in the resulting chaos and increasingly complex construction environment.

Now Gross says CCRA has been assured that if the sale goes through, Shaaban plans to proceed with the project quickly because his financing is already lined up. The neighborhood group doesn’t believe that there is a risk of demolition without the promised project following through as occurred with Toll Bros.’ aborted tower on Jewelers’ Row — and as they fear could occur with some other big projects in the neighborhood.

“There was some hysteria that came from the demolition notices, but we think it is misplaced,” Gross said. “Tim says his money is in place, and he’s prepared to move forward. That’s good news from our perspective, because tearing buildings down and leaving big holes is really bad.”

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct Gross’ reference to a building on Chestnut Street.