The seller is New York City-based Goldman Properties. According to public records, Goldman acquired the 61,000-sf Cunningham Building in August 2001 for just shy of $2.5 million and the adjacent 2,000-sf retail store in August 2005 for $900,000.
Jonathan Stavin, first VP in the local office of CB Richard Ellis, represented both Goldman and the Church of Scientology in the transaction. He tells GlobeSt.com that Goldman had gutted the buildings in preparation for converting them into residential condos. "As the condo market softened," he says, "the owner felt this sale would be good for this portion of Chestnut Street where it owns considerable retail real estate."
As GlobeSt.com previously reported, Goldman is in the process of converting the five-story White Building at the corner of 12th and Chestnut streets into 24 condos. Among its other holdings in this area east of Broad Street are buildings containing four home fashion stores and three restaurants, including Lolita and El Vez.
"There was tremendous interest in this property from both developers and users," Stavin says. "The Church of Scientology was able to react quickly and close on the deal because they had been looking for a property for several years." He says the church plans to create a center what will include an academy, chapel, offices and church community programs along with ground-floor retail, and it anticipates tripling is current staff of 35, once the renovation is complete. The cost of the renovation and date of completion is not yet finalized.
In addition, the church plans to be open after usual office hours to enable its workers and members to frequent local retailers, which was a concern of Goldman's in selling what Stavin calls "two of the most attractive retail spaces along this block. This new project that will help solidify the 1300 block of Chestnut as both an attractive office and retail address," he notes.
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