Stein says the company has acquired a 3.5-acre riverfront parcel at 900 N. Delaware Ave. in Northern Liberties for nearly $30 million. "It has a one-acre parking lot and industrial buildings that are now about 70% leased," he says. Groundbreaking is scheduled for this November, with delivery in 2010.

The developer entity, 2945 PDI LLC, is backed by a Northern New Jersey-based investor group, which Stein tells GlobeSt.com, "has projects in England, Gibraltar, Miami and Israel." Without identifying the group's members, he says, "they seek projects that have value; Philadelphia is in their sights, and they see this as an iconic addition to the city."

Although the design is not fully complete, he tells GlobeSt.com it will include 80,000 sf of restaurants and retail on the first two floors, a 250-room boutique hotel up to the 15th floor, topped by approximately 700 residential condos. Off the 15th floor there will be an amenity deck, which Stein says, "will be a club, shared by residents, hotel guests and open to membership by neighborhood residents," a feature worked out in discussions with the community.