Recently, we took a tour of 777 S. Broad St. with Marianne Harris, Director of Sales, Leasing, and Marketing for Dranoff Properties, and we were very impressed with what we saw. This place is both good looking and has a commitment to luxury for residents. Oh, and by the way it’s a totally green building. We’ll try to give you a taste, but we suggest checking it out in person sometime soon, if you’d like to get the full effect.

777 Lobby

In the well appointed lobby, a guard is on duty 24 hours a day and also takes packages for residents. When a package arrives, the guard enters the information into Building Link, a program that immediately emails the resident that their package has arrived. Residents can also remotely use Building Link to reserve common spaces for private events, arrange for dry cleaning pickup, make repair requests, or give permission for someone to enter the building. Cool stuff.

Club Room

The Club Room and Fitzwater Pub are two common spaces on the first floor of the building that host events for residents and the community. When these spaces are not reserved, residents are usually socializing in the comfortable environment or watching a ballgame. The building also includes a fitness center for residents, which eliminates any excuses for not working out. Darn.

Two bedroom unit

The building contains 146 residential units on floors 2-5. Each unit comes with a parking space and a storage unit down the hall. Apartments have large windows, high ceilings, and bamboo floors, making the space look large and bright. Kitchens include stainless steel appliances and granite countertops. Residents can control the climate in their individual unit thanks to a heat pump system.

A closeup of a kitchen

The building contains one and two bedroom units, some of which include dens. One bedroom units start at $2,220, and two bedrooms start at $2,550. Thanks to a special offer right now, qualified applicants are only required to pay a $500 security deposit. If you’re interested, you can check out their website to set up an appointment.

777 Skydeck

Oh, and did we forget to mention the roof deck with skyline views, a public barbeque, and a jacuzzi?

Also exciting, the first floor retail spaces are starting to move forward. Tashan, a high end Indian restaurant from Munish Narula of Tiffin, and the B2 salon should both be opening in the near future. With a huge space still being negotiated on the Fitzwater St. corner, we have high hopes for a real street presence on S. Broad St.

Considering the current state of the stretch of Broad St. that goes from South St. to Washington Ave., we hope that 777 S. Broad is a beacon for new development. Sorry, but two gas stations, a Dunkin Donuts, a McDonalds, a Popeye’s, and a whole bunch of vacant land kind of does a disservice to the idea of the “Avenue of the Arts.” From where we sit (high up in the clouds, of course), we’re hoping that success at 777 drives Carl Dranoff, or some other big developer not named Universal to build at one of the two vacant corners of Broad and Washington. With an anchor like 777 in the north and an anchor at Broad and Washington, we could not only see significant growth on Avenue of the Arts, but could see additional development south of Washington as well. Here’s hoping that one day we’ll look back and realize that 777 was the straw that ultimately stirred the drink for S. Broad St.