The Divine Lorraine and development on North Broad

Hour 1

The Divine Lorraine Hotel stands at 699 North Broad Street. The 10-story Philadelphia landmark was built in 1892 as a luxury apartment building, one of the city’s first skyscrapers.  Later it became a hotel, the first to be racially integrated in the city.  But today the Divine Lorraine is a shadow of its former self. After standing empty for years, the Divine Lorraine is riddled with graffiti, broken windows and structural decay. Recently, developer ERIC BLUMENFELD has bought the building and has big plans for it and the Metropolitan Opera House, another grand, flagship Broad Street building, which he also purchased. This hour, a conversation about the Divine Lorraine and development along the North Broad corridor. Our guests are BLUMENFELD, President of EB Realty Management Corporation, JOHN GALLERY, Executive Director of the Preservation Alliance of Greater Philadelphia, and PENELOPE GILES, Founder and Executive Director of Francisville Neighborhood Development Corp.

Listen:
[audio: 110612_100630.mp3]

Photo by Flickr user lecates