Dune Real Estate Partners, a private-equity firm, and developer TF Cornerstone have teamed up to convert Philadelphia’s Wanamaker Building into a residential complex, writes Peter Grant for The Wall Street Journal.
The partnership is part of a country-wide trend of converting office spaces into residential buildings, as office vacancy rates continue to increase and property values keep falling. So far this year, more than 70 conversion projects have been completed nationwide, with 94 additional projects currently in the works.
Dune plans to invest $1 billion in approximately 20 conversion projects across the country over the next three years, with the Center City building among the first.
“You end up with so much space that you paid so little for, that you can create amenities that you would never build if you were doing new construction,” said Daniel Neidich, chief executive of Dune.
To kickstart the project, TF Cornerstone just purchased the debt on the Philadelphia building’s office space and is currently working on taking title.
“The banks are foreclosing and doing short sales,” said Neidich. “There’s a ton of it going on.”
Read more about the planned conversion for the historic Wanamaker building and other buildings throughout the nation in The Wall Street Journal.
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Editor’s Note: This post first appeared on PHILADELPHIA Today in December 2024.
