Luxury apts. slated for GE bldg.

An upscale residential, retail and office complex will be built on a Penn-owned site at 31st and Walnut streets. University officials announced yesterday that they have signed a non-binding letter of intent to convert the former General Electric building at 31st and Walnut streets into a $54 million apartment complex that will serve as an "eastern gateway" to Penn's campus. The real estate development company Dranoff Properties will pay all construction costs for the new Westside Commons, which will have 285 apartmental units, a fitness center, 17,000 square feet of retail, one floor of office space and a 1/4-mile rooftop track. The worn-down building will be totally gutted --Ebut left standing -- during an 18-month construction process, which is set to begin this summer. "We are trying to create an identity as you enter Penn's campus? a sense of arrival," said Carl Dranoff, president of Dranoff Properties. University President Judith Rodin said the new entranceway would be a huge improvement over Penn's current welcoming sign. "Coming over the Walnut Street bridge, the first way you know you're on Penn's campus is a sign on a railway track," she noted. Rodin said she hopes the new complex will attract not only Penn faculty and graduate students, but people looking to relocate from the suburbs and others who want to be a part of what she called a vibrant and revitalized University City. And Dranoff echoed her sentiment, saying he expects the complex to attract those constituencies. The University bought the six acres of property --Ethree of which will be used for Westside Commons -- in 1996 for $6.5 million. Executive Vice President John Fry said officials have spent the time since studying the location to determine its most feasible use. "The University saw the property, bought it opportunistically and then waited until the time was right," he explained. He added that the beauty of the plan for Westside Commons is its economic and architectural efficiency, as it combines residences, offices and retail establishments. And Penn won't have to spend a dime on its construction. "We will always think first of how to use other people's money," Fry said, adding that the University wants to invest its own "precious capital" in academic ventures. Scheduled for completion in the fall of 2000, the apartment units will be loft-style and will include studios as well as one-, two- and three-bedroom units. The design of the rooms will be similar to those in the newly opened Locust on the Park complex, also designed by Dranoff, at 2400 Locust Street. Studio apartments in Westside Commons will start at $800, one-bedroom units at $1,000 and two-bedrooms at $1,500 per month. Dranoff said the interior of the 600,000-square-foot Westside Commons will be removed to create an open-air atrium. Each of the rooms facing the courtyard will be furnished with terraces and balconies. The rooms facing east will have a view of the Philadelphia skyline and the west side of the building will overlook campus. The project is yet another effort by Penn to revitalize University City. In recent years it has helped create the University City District -- to which Dranoff said his company will contribute a "six-figure" amount -- to help keep the area clean and safe. It also has been encouraging faculty members and staff to live in the neighborhood, by offering low-interest loans and funding a new public school. The University will maintain full ownership of the building and the land and will sign a long-term lease with Dranoff to manage it. Fry estimated the length of the lease to be 40 years, after which the property would revert back to Penn's management. The University will likely use much of the building's office space itself -- putting at least part of the lease money back into the site. Officials said they are optimistic about the success of the new apartment complex because it fills a need for upscale, luxury housing. "Our most competitive peer institutions right now have attractive, on-campus housing for graduate students and faculty," Rodin said. She added that lack of suitable housing has often made it difficult to recruit young, new faculty to the University. Faculty Senate Chairperson John Keene said he is very excited about the project. "It'll create a center of activity on the east part of campus that will be very important to the area," he added. Rodin presented the proposed building to the Faculty Senate on Wednesday. Although Keene said he needs more information to know if the apartment building will be suitable for faculty, he said that it promises to be a "very attractive facility that makes a lot of sense financially." The retail on the ground floor will be managed by the Trammell Crow Co. through a contract with Dranoff independent from its contract with the University to manage its facilities. Although Dranoff was unsure about which specific companies would move into Westside Commons, he said the focus would be on food and convenience. "We're creating a little city here," Dranoff said. "We have to provide the amenities people will need to be comfortable." He explained that because the building is recognized as an historical landmark, much of the renovation will be internal. "We're redoing the building from the inside out," Dranoff explained. The construction should be completed in time to provide housing for the fall semester in 2000. Dranoff said he hopes most of the construction will be done by next spring so that marketing can begin for the fall. The facility connects the campus with Drexel University and will also provide much-needed housing for that institution. Fry said he spoke with Drexel officials yesterday and that they are pleased with the project which will be located squarely in between the two campuses. Dranoff said he responded last July to an advertisement placed by the University looking for someone to design the site. A second round of bidding was held in November. Fry said Penn chose Dranoff -- a former trustee at Drexel -- because of his "high level of expertise" and his "sensitivity to neighborhood issues." Both Fry and Rodin praised him extensively for his commitment to the project.