Northwest Philadelphia developer Ken Weinstein is buying four largely vacant office and medical buildings from La Salle University, consolidating its properties in an era of retrenchment in higher education.
The four buildings are close to the former Germantown Hospital, which La Salle purchased in 2007. Weinstein, owner of Philly Office Retail, paid $1 million for all four, which total 70,000 square feet, and for 55 surface parking spaces.
“The University has been selling properties that were acquired many years ago but which do not serve the University’s current and projected needs,” said Meg Ryan, Director of Strategic Communications for La Salle.
“We look forward to Weinstein’s stewardship of these buildings moving forward and their contribution to the vibrancy of the neighborhood and La Salle University,” said Ryan in an email.
They include the original Founder’s Hall, which dates back to the turn of the 19th century and a two story 44,000 square foot building that connects to the former hospital. (Not to be confused with the new and current Founders Hall, located right next door.)
Weinstein plans to keep most of the properties as office space. The developer has found that despite the post-COVID convulsions of the office market, the kind of suites that he offers to nonprofits and smaller businesses in Northwest Philadelphia have still been in high demand.
“When you hear about the office market being in distress it’s more so referring to the larger office spaces downtown and not as much to the smaller spaces in the neighborhoods,” said Weinstein.
The two one-story buildings that are located in the midst of a surface parking lot could be a good fit for those who need Americans With Disabilities Act accessible properties, which many of the historic buildings rehabbed by Philly Office retail cannot offer.
Both of these buildings need minimal work and could be reopened soon.
“We get a lot of calls from nonprofits that need ADA space,” Weinstein said. “That’s not always possible with adaptive reuse projects. They are usually multiple stories and a lot of them don’t have elevators.”
The former Founder’s Hall –which comes with a caretaker apartment attached–and the two-story medical building which wraps around it– will need a lot more work. With permitting, and assuming no setbacks, construction on those could begin by early 2027.
All of the properties are zoned for single-family residential, but if they remain office buildings no zoning relief will be needed because Philadelphia allows properties that predate existing land use laws to operate as current or similar uses (unless the previous use had been abandoned over three years ago).
However, Weinstein is interested in potentially turning the two-story building into either apartments — it could probably accommodate 40 of them — or an adult daycare facility. If he decided on an apartment plan for seniors, residents could utilize the next door former hospital which is now a physical rehabilitation center.
That could prove difficult. Weinstein and the local district councilmember, Cindy Bass, have long clashed making a legislative change to the zoning unlikely.
A city councilmember also has influence at the Zoning Board of Adjustment, although their opposition is not definitive. Going through that process, however, can take over a year.
No matter how he decides to proceed, Weinstein says that these buildings are a great example of why he loves Northwest Philadelphia. They are shrouded in greenery and, especially in the case of the old Founders Hall, they are off the beaten path.
“Northwest Philly is full of hidden gems,” Weinstein said, under the shade of the large trees behind former Founder’s Hall. “And as we say in real estate, [these buildings] have good bones.”