$93M Converts Architects Building to Hotel

PHILADELPHIA-San Francisco-based Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group enters this market with plans to convert the Architects Building at Sansom and South 17th streets into a 234-room Hotel Palomar Philadelphia. According to public records, confirmed by Joe Long, Kimpton’s EVP of acquisitions, the hotelier acquired the building from New York City-based Northern Group Inc. in mid-August for $21 million.

Long tells GlobeSt.com the all-in cost of conversion, including the acquisition, is $92.5 million. Work will begin in February and is scheduled for completion in mid-fall 2009. The hotel will be an upscale boutique hotel, the 10th in Kimpton’s Palomar brand and the company’s 11th adaptive reuse development. “Since our first adaptive reuse project in 1991, we’ve enjoyed bringing new life to architectural landmarks in major urban settings,” says Michael Depatie, president and CEO of Kimpton, in a statement.