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Former Destination Maternity Site in NoLibs Revamps Plan Due to Zoning Change


According to Philadelphia Business Journal, the owner of the Destination Maternity building on the corner of 5th and Spring Garden streets is revamping their previous plan to convert the building into a creative modern workspace.

Alliance Partners HSP based out of Bryn Mawr, Pa., bought the property a year ago. Branded as SoNo, $60 million was reported as the projected price to transform the structure from drab warehouse to industrial chic office space.

The company wanted to lure tenants from conventional office towers in Center City for more non-traditional work environments in hip neighborhoods like Northern Liberties to attract the city’s creative class and millennials.

But companies sometimes miss the mark when they try to capitalize on neighborhood trends and the hipness of an area.

Potential tenants have explored the space, but they have been reluctant to sign any leases. Destination Maternity only moved out last month when it relocated its headquarters to New Jersey. Rich Previdi, a principal with Alliance Partners HSP, explained that it’s always hard when a tenant continues to fill a space while it’s being shown to prospective tenants.

Destination Maternity

Since last June when Alliance Partners revealed their plans to convert the warehouse into a creative space, the company has had time to better understand what tenants might be looking for.

Previdi told the Business Journal,

“We have explored the market. We have a good handle on what the market is. What the office, warehouse, retail and residential markets are. We are now looking at some combination of mixed-use.”

The New Zoning overlay plan that is currently in the works has helped alter plans for what can be built in that space and that area of city as whole. CMX-3 zoning, which allows a mix of uses and increased height limits, would be an upgrade from industrial that it is currently zoned for.

By spring Previdi hopes to have a new proposal for the site ready.

 

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