The last few years have brought significant changes for the Studebaker building at 667 N. Broad St., and the next couple of years will bring even more changes. In 2011, the Ridge Avenue men's shelter closed its doors due to in part to an effort from HUD to move away from the model of large shelters. This left a very large building with frontage on Ridge Avenue and North Broad Street sitting vacant, until Starr Catering took over some space in the building in late 2013. Around the same time, the blue panels on the front of the building took on a rainbow look. But when we passed by the building last week, the discovered that half of those panels were missing.
We went there today and found that the rest of the sheathing has been removed from the building.
Last year, Philly Mag reported that the building would be converted into a mix of restaurants and apartments, then the plan shifted to an expanded office space for Starr Catering. It seems the plans have changed again, with CBRE actively marketing most of the first floor and all of the second and third floors of the building. In total, over 43K sqft are available for lease over the three floors, and owners EB Realty Management have released a sweet rendering of what we can expect the building will eventually look like. The rendering reflects the New Orleans-style restaurants that were on tap over a year ago.
It's pretty clear that a restaurant or two would be a great fit here, and considering the success of some upscale places nearby on North Broad Street, the sky is really the limit. As for the upper floors, we could imagine some kind of office use or perhaps a co-working space, though apartments still seem possible as well. Especially when you consider that the Divine Lorraine is getting fixed up just half a block to the north, this could be some very desirable space for any use at all.
It's an exciting time for North Broad Street right now with the long-anticipated Divine Lorraine renovation as an inflection point in the history of the corridor. Once that project wraps up in the near future, look for even more enthusiasm, and look for additional development to spread into surrounding neighborhoods.