The Curtis Institute of Music will take ownership of the Art Alliance building after outbidding Temple University for the property that was previously owned by the closed University of the Arts, write Susan Snyder, Peter Dobrin, and Jake Blumgart for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The institute bid $7.6 million at a live auction conducted on Tuesday by UArts bankruptcy trustee Alfred T. Giuliano. According to a source, bids on the building were made in $100,000 increments.
The initial bid of $6.5 million had come earlier from real estate mogul and former Philadelphia City Councilman Allan Domb, but he later dropped out and did not take part in the auction.
The building, which is close to the elite music school on the east side of Rittenhouse Square, includes a small performance hall, exhibition galleries, and outdoor space.
“Certainly space is always something we need on a thriving campus like Curtis, and with the proximity, it seemed like a really good fit for the school,” said Patricia Johnson, a spokesperson for the Curtis Institute of Music. “We are excited this worked out and can’t wait to fill it with music.”
Read more about the Curtis Institute’s bid, as well as the Art Alliance building in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
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