A building that stands at the corner of Broad Street and Fairmount Avenue in North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, once the home to luxury apartment living and later a hotel, has sat dormant and dilapidated for years now, covered in graffiti with some boarded up windows and others exposed to the weather.
However, the former Lorraine Apartments turned Divine Lorraine Hotel near Center City is being given new life with the restoration of this historically and architecturally significant landmark. Redevelopment plans include 126 loft apartments and ground-floor restaurants.
Former Lorraine Apartments turned Divine Lorraine Hotel is pictured here with graffiti and a deteriorating exterior.
Both the location of the building and the architecture itself reflect the changes that were occurring rapidly in the city of Philadelphia and in the country as a result of the Industrial Revolution. The former Lorraine Apartments were architecturally significant when built, as it was one of the first high-rise apartment buildings in the city to be 10 stories tall. At the time, most of Philadelphia’s buildings were not more than three to four stories tall because construction materials and techniques were not capable of supporting taller buildings and the many flights of stairs needed to get to higher floors were a nuisance to residents.
Designed by architect Willis G. Hale and built in the 1890s as the apartments and then sold in 1948 to Father Divine, leader of the “Peace Movement,” the Divine Lorraine was also significant as the city’s first racially-integrated hotel under Divine. After Divine’s death in 2000, the hotel was sold. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.
This is an important project, particularly because of it is architectural and historical significance. More than that, it’s significant to the property’s developer, Eric Blumenfeld and his EB Realty Management Corporation. Blumenfeld grew up near City Center, and this revitalization has personal meaning for him: it’s near the synagogue where he had his bar mitzvah and is close to his dad’s alma mater, Temple University.
Although Temple is a great educational institution, the area is rough. Steps are being taken to make the campus and the surrounding area safer to help the university’s reputation and attract more students. This, in turn, is attracting more developers to the area. The increased interest in revitalizing the Broad Street corridor from north of City Hall up to Temple University will only help Temple move its plans forward.
Blumenfeld has high hopes and lofty goals for redeveloping the rundown area. He is hoping to revitalize the area to a hotspot of apartments and restaurants – and to one day serve as an anchor for the area with even a new public high school campus.
After sitting vacant for more than a decade, the revitalization of the once lovely Victorian-style Divine Lorraine and redevelopment of the area is welcome news for the city, to take it from a “dead” area to what is hoped to be the new “it” area.
Madison has been involved with several projects nearby including several at Temple University, just a short distance north on Broad Street. These projects include Temple Science & Engineering Center, Temple Fox School of Business, Wanamaker Plaza, Temple Gateway Building, University Village at Temple, Avenue North Apartments.