Symphony House

When the Kimmel Center was built at Broad and Spruce Streets in 2001, the city decided to sell off the parcel it controlled at Broad and Pine Streets. The Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp., which owned the land on behalf of the city, put it up for bid and selected developer Carl Dranoff, who wanted to re-create the romance and glamor of the 1920s, when South Broad Street was at its height as the financial and cultural epicenter of the city. Tonight, Dranoff will unveil the project that has been five years in the making: Symphony House on the Avenue of the Arts.

When the Kimmel Center was built at Broad and Spruce Streets in 2001, the city decided to sell off the parcel it controlled at Broad and Pine Streets. The Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp., which owned the land on behalf of the city, put it up for bid and selected developer Carl Dranoff, who wanted to re-create the romance and glamor of the 1920s, when South Broad Street was at its height as the financial and cultural epicenter of the city. Tonight, Dranoff will unveil the project that has been five years in the making: Symphony House on the Avenue of the Arts.

Federal safety investigators were twice called to the Symphony House construction site this summer after complaints were lodged against the concrete contractor. A worker fell to his death there on Wednesday. Both complaints were regarding fall safety. Attorneys for the family of the worker who was killed said yesterday that the safety cable intended to prevent falls had been cut and improperly reattached. One of the complaints to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration led to a $2,500 fine against Fabi Construction of Egg Harbor Township, N.J. Because the company is challenging the citation, details of the allegations remain secret.

With construction equipment on the site, ready to begin work today, Carl E. Dranoff broke ground yesterday for his condo skyscraper, Symphony House, on the Avenue of the Arts. Gov. Rendell, speaking at the ceremony, hailed the 31-story building as fulfillment of a dream he had soon after he became mayor in 1992, of turning South Broad into a street of restaurants, performing-arts venues, and residences. The $125 million complex will include 163 units ranging from $550,000 for a one-bedroom apartment to $4 million for two-story, five-bedroom penthouses.

Who says there's a pent-up demand for luxury condos in Center City? Carl E. Dranoff. A week before the sales office opened for his 31-story Symphony House at Broad and Pine Streets, Dranoff says, he had already sold 45 of the building's 163 condominiums - though they won't be ready for at least 22 months. These decisions to spend between $458,000 and more than $1.4 million were based on pictures and drawings and a five-minute video shown at the Dranoff Properties office in University City that focuses as much on the neighborhood - the Kimmel Center is 100 steps from the high-rise's front entrance - as it does on Symphony House's art-deco style.

Carl E. Dranoff, best known for converting old buildings into modern apartments, is putting the finishing touches on plans for a new 31-story tower on South Broad Street. A formal announcement is expected today. The $92 million project, called Symphony House, will have 160 residential condominiums; a 350-seat venue for the Philadelphia Theatre Company, which plans to present plays, lectures and film festivals; an upscale ground-floor restaurant; and a 395-car garage. Dranoff's partners in the venture are musician and developer Kenny Gamble and Walter Lomax, a physician and health-care entrepreneur.