Issue date: 12/6/07 Section: News

The project, which Penn Director of Real Estate Development Paul Sehnert estimated at $20 million, cannot be approved until the Trustees vote on it. Sehnert said the vote will most likely come sometime in the early spring.

"The developer has got to do a lot of work to demonstrate that this deal makes sense," Sehnert said. He would not speculate on the likelihood of Trustee approval.

In addition, the coalition must apply to the Spruce Hill Community Association for commercial zoning, which Campus Apartments President David Adelman said it will do in early January.

Both Adelman and Lussenhop said they expect to receive the commercial zoning variance.

"I think the hotel is needed," Lussenhop said. "Needed projects have a way of getting approved."

If approved, the hotel project would include refurbishing the "Italianate" mansion, a designated historical marker, that is currently on site. Belynda Stewart, president of the University City Historical Society, said the group has not yet reached a consensus on the hotel project, but supports renovation of the mansion.

Goldman also said she worried the hotel would cause traffic problems and make already "ferocious" parking impossible.

But valet parking will be available for hotel guests at the parking garage on 38th and Spruce streets, Lussenhop said, adding that guests would also be able to use the nearby trolley station at 40th and Baltimore streets to navigate the city.

Goldman's concerns, however, have not been allayed.

"There's got to be a place that's equally convenient to the hospital that's not right in the backyard of all these people," she said.

< prev Page 2 of 2

Article Tools