After eight years of blighting the Gayborhood, the Lincoln Apartments is finally about to see a new day.
Construction crews are readying to renovate the property at 1222 Locust St., rehabbing it into a high-end apartment complex.
Fire gutted the Lincoln in July 2006, and it went on to become an empty eyesore that often attracted a criminal element.
Developer and Philadelphia Residential Development Corporation president David Perlman recently purchased the building at sheriff’s sale for more than $2 million.
The property will be converted into 44 apartments, as well as one or two penthouses. The apartments will include studios, one and two bedrooms, with rent ranging from about $1,600-$3,000 monthly.
Joe Zajaczkowski, project manager, estimated that the project, being spearheaded by Venco Building Group, could take between 14-16 months to complete.
Structural engineer Malcolm Bland, of the The Harman Group, whom Zajaczkowski noted has been involved in the project since the fire, began his inspection of the property last week.
“We’re waiting for him to bless this area, bless that area,” Zajaczkowski said, noting that the construction could get off to a slow start, depending on the structural review. “We have to consider what’s happened to the building in the last one or two years since engineers were last in there. So if they come back and say we have to install bracing, take this or that down, these first few months could be slowgoing.”
The team is also working with architectural company Cecil Baker & Partners, which also has been involved in previous efforts to rehab the building.
Zajaczkowski said his team has started cleaning out a “huge amount of debris” occupying the alleyway between the property and the neighboring Little Nonna’s.
The sidewalk in front of the building is currently blocked off.
PRDC chief operating officer Jon Thomas said the move was made to ensure the safety of passersby.
“The property is in dire need of repair so that’s for safety for the demolition,” Thomas said. “It’s our intention to open it up as soon as we can without affecting getting the complex done in a timely fashion.”
Zajaczkowski said project organizers are planning to meet with local neighbors regarding the sidewalk closure and will take suggestions from the public and from Bland about potentially amending the closure site.
“We want to keep it as safe as possible but are open to suggestions. But we need the elbow room for when we put in Dumpsters and to keep the area safe also. Cranes will be involved later on as we progress, and there will be lumber deliveries. We have a limited space to work with.”
Compounding the issue is the fact that closure signage at 12th and 13th streets keeps being stolen, Zajaczkowski said.
“That’s frustrating,” he said. “We’re putting up signage and it’s getting scrapped. We’ve put $3,000 into the signage, and we just put in another order to make sure people know they need to cross.”
Washington Square West Civic Association member Judy Applebaum noted that, while the sidewalk closure isn’t the “ideal situation,” she’s eagerly welcoming the renovation.
“We’re thrilled that something’s finally happening,” Applebaum said.
After the fire, she said, New York-baesd owner Jacob Ungar said renovations were being held up by the delayed resolution of an insurance settlement.
“We kept pushing it, saying, ‘How long should an insurance settlement really take?’ And then we tried to force him to do some security at the building — board up doors and windows — and he was uncooperative. Honestly, some blame could put on the city too because I feel they should’ve stepped forward.”
There had long been concerns about portions of the building potentially collapsing, and there was also a suspicion, Applebaum said, that squatters were gaining access to the building, which prompted further worries about criminal activity, fires and rodents.
“It’s been a real blight on the community,” she said.
The insurance-settlement issue led to a debate over who truly owned the building: Ungar or another company, also based in New York. After a series of court actions, the case was forwarded to a Jewish court to determine the rightful owner.
“It’s really been a soap opera,” Applebaum said. “I think I’ve been to court six times just in the last two years over this building. Finally it went to sheriff’s sale and there was this deal.”
Thomas confirmed that Perlman has the deed to the building in his possession.
When the project is completed, Thomas said, it will attract a much different element than it has in the past eight years.
He likened the feel of the building to a project the company just completed at 1211 Sansom St.
“We were able to give that a young, entrepreneurial spirit, a New York style with a Philly twist,” Thomas said. “This will be super high-end and modern. It won’t be loft style — usually lofts have bare concrete floors and we won’t be doing that — but it’ll be luxury, modern apartments.”