Will Smith abandons plans for Society Hill

[willreign]

Instead of transforming the NewMarket site into a hotel and retail complex, he sold it to a Northeast Phila. group.

By Michael Klein

Inquirer Staff Writer

After nearly five years, entertainer Will Smith has given up his much-ballyhooed plans to develop the derelict NewMarket complex in Society Hill.

He and his younger brother, Harry, recently sold the property - now a crudely fenced vacant lot on the doorstep of one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the city. The buyer is Sant Properties, of Northeast Philadelphia, owned by a family of investors who plan to build condos plus some ground-level retail.

Sant, which has developed mainly commercial sites in Northeast Philadelphia, bought it for $10.5 million - more than three times what the Smiths paid in March 2000. Closing was about two weeks ago, said Ravi Chawla, a Sant partner.

The Overbrook-bred Smiths paid $3.2 million for the 11/2-acre parcel bounded roughly by Pine, Lombard, Second and Front Streets. City Council approved about $9 million in tax incentives for what the Smiths envisioned as a swank hotel/retail complex with Delaware River views.

Then the hotel market softened and financing became difficult, Harry Smith said in a 2001 interview. W Hotels, a hip brand of Starwood Hotels & Resorts that initially was supposed to operate the hotel, walked away in mid-2001. The Smiths had won zoning approval after lengthy meetings with neighbors.

Harry Smith, who oversees his brother's real estate affairs, did not return phone calls left at his office Thursday and Friday.

Chawla said he planned to speak with neighborhood groups before determining the size and scope of his project.

"Everything I have is very preliminary right now," Chawla said when asked the proposed number of units and the height of the building. "Something will be built. Certainly it will be better than what's there now," he said, referring to the weedy lot.

Tania Rorke, president of the Society Hill Civic Association, learned of the sale Friday. Rorke said she hoped the project would "maintain the historical integrity of our neighborhood."

Chawla said Sant also has an agreement of sale to purchase the adjacent John Ross House at Second and Pine Streets. The brick buildings along Second Street at Head House Square are not affected.

Chawla said he and his brother Hardeep were looking for a developer as a partner. He hoped groundbreaking could be late this year.

NewMarket, whose centerpiece was a glass-and-steel pavilion, opened in 1975 at 410 S. Front St. with a mix of shops and restaurants, including the Rusty Scupper. It quickly became a white elephant.

NewMarket was sold in late 1986 for $7.6 million to developers Michael DiPaolo and Gloria B. Levin. The building had a brief resurgence in the early 1990s with cabarets, including one run by entertainer Patti LaBelle, but it soon fell into disrepair. It was razed in 2002.

Neighbors in 1996 fought off a proposed supermarket.

Will Smith, whose plans for a recording studio and soundstage on South Broad Street also have gone nowhere, has invested millions in low-profile real estate in his hometown.

Through Treyball Development Inc. - named after his son - he bought and sold an office building in Old City. Treyball also bought a furniture company on Spring Garden Street near the Spaghetti Warehouse restaurant in the Loft District, and plans to fit it out as six condo units. Treyball also owns Osborne Funeral Home at Wayne Avenue and Winona Street in Germantown. A planned sale last year to a woman who wanted to open what she called a personal-care home was scuttled after community opposition.

In September's Fortune magazine, Smith's worth was estimated at $188 million. Smith's payday from the movie I, Robot was estimated at $28 million.

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http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/lo...10598845.htm?1c

[JumpinJack AJ]

Not very interesting...but THANX! I think FP kinda lost focus and interest in all that stuff but will get back in2 when he's older.

[Jazzy Julie]

thanx. Maybe Will has more important things on his mind like his music lol.

[fan 4ever]

Yeah thanx 4 posting!

[fan 4ever]

here's some xtra about it! It's from allhiphop.com

Will Smith Sells Real Estate Holding For $10.5 Million

By Clover Hope

Date: 1/10/2005 1:16 pm

Philadelphia-born actor and rapper Will Smith recently sold a property in his hometown where he planned to develop a hotel and shopping center.

The city initially gave Smith the go-ahead to build a luxury hotel and retail complex on the vacant lot in Philadelphia's historical Society Hill section several years ago, promising $9 million in tax incentives to advance the project.

Plans were delayed due to the weak hotel market.

The luxury hotel was to provide a view of the nearby Delaware River and would have also been in the vicinity of South Street and Independence Hall, two of the city's most recognized tourist areas.

Will and his brother Harry Smith sold the vacant site to Sant Properties for $10.5 million, roughly three times more than what the family bought the property for five years ago.

Sant Properties intends to construct condominiums in the location formerly known as NewMarket, which was previously lined with stores and restaurants.

Smith's Treyball Development real estate firm has invested millions of dollars renovating buildings and regions around Philadelphia, including a former furniture company, a historical townhouse and a funeral home.

In 2002, Treyball Development, named after Smith's son Trey, won the rights to build a minority owned 500 room hotel in Broward County, Florida.

Treyball took the project after the county cut ties with the previous developer.

[JumpinJack AJ]

Thanx!! It's good 2 know that FP made a profit off it. It waz cool 2 read about some of the things he's done around Philly without all the spot lights on him. Most rappers do stuff like that but they want cameras around them 2 look good and get attention.