Friday Five: March 6th, 2026
We return (again) to a familiar format back to bring you a buffet of the latest real estate news
It’s been a minute since we last brought you a smorgasbord of Philadelphia delights (since Halloween, in fact), but we are back with some bite-sized morsels of real estate goodness. All sorts of things are happening, so without further ado, let’s dive right in.
Centre Square sells at discount in Center City, apartments and hotel planned
This is actually news from last week but definitely deserves some spotlight: the two towers at Centre Square right across from City Hall have sold according to the Philadelphia Business Journal. The team of PMC Property Group and Dean Adler plan to convert the mostly empty office towers to around 500 apartments and a 300-key hotel, with some office space sticking around. Amazingly, after selling for $330 million back in 2017, this joint venture was able to scoop up the tower pair for less than $100 million - bargain basement prices! This is just the latest of many office-to-residential conversions in this part of town.
William Way LGBT Community Center will be demolished in the Gayborhood
After first hearing word from preservation advocate extraordinaire Oscar Beisert, the Philadelphia Inquirer provided some additional news on the pending demolition of the William Way LGBT Community Center at 1315 Spruce St. This gorgeous old building will be torn down to make way for a six-story building with office space on the first two floors and 42 affordable apartments for seniors above. While included as a contributing building in the recently rescinded Washington Square West historic district, this is somehow not a separately protected building, which it absolutely, 100% should be. Demo is not supposed to be imminent so keep an eye out for more news here soon.
Plans presented for Germantown Town Hall include school, community space
After years of speculation on what’s to come (including by your favorite mustached real estate blogger), there appears to be firmer plans in place for the century-old Germantown Town Hall, per Hidden City. The proposal from Anthony Fullard, who has been leading the development here and is from Germantown, calls for a charter school on the upper floors, a commercial kitchen/”cuisine hub” led by Tarik Ryant in the basement, and an unknown community use on the first floor. Despite this seemingly community-focused plan, the community didn’t seem overly fond of what was proposed according to reports, wanting more information on the specific plans. We just hope that something happens here and soon, as it would be a shame to see this property to continue to languish as it has for decades.
No hotel for the Bourse, but we could see apartments take its place
Just east of Independence Mall, the hulking Bourse building will shift proposed plans from a hotel to apartments, per the Philadelphia Business Journal. It appears once again that Dean Adler and PMC will team up, seemingly leaving hotel developer Keystone on the outs. In lieu of the 152-key hotel planned for the space, 85 apartments would soon take up several of the floors of the building, though there’s frustratingly no new information on what might take the space of the now closed food hall that once filled the main floor. Let’s hope that something open to the public and worthwhile finds its way to this absolute prime space in the Bourse.
Phase I of Westpark affordable housing complex breaks ground in West Philly
Let’s finish today’s round-up with a heaping helping of awesome news: the 327-unit first phase of the massive Westpark redevelopment broke ground earlier this week. Featuring a groundbreaking with a who’s who of local politicians and leaders, this is all part of a 1,000-unit plan from the Philadelphia Housing Authority and private developers LMXD and MSquared. Boatloads of affordable housing are included in this transit-adjacent space, with well over 100 units designated for returning residents of the existing towers, which will see renovations in subsequent phases. Erdy McHenry Architecture and OLIN teamed on this design, which will see walkways and lush landscaping tying the new construction with the towers. This shall be truly awesome, with this first phase slated for completion in 2027 (fingers crossed).