08/03/2015
Groundbreaking ceremony set for luxury apartment tower financed by $45 million commercial real estate loan from Citizens Bank
Apartments will offer host of amenities, retail and environmentally sensitive design
PHILADELPHIA – Citizens Bank will join with city officials and partners of Brown Hill Development for a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday, Aug. 5, on a 17-story luxury apartment tower at the intersection of Second and Race streets in Old City Philadelphia.
The project, financed with a $45 million commercial real estate loan from Citizens Bank, includes 146 rental units and 13,480 square feet of ground-level retail. Brown Hill Development’s 205 Race Street will be the first multifamily high-rise property in Center City to earn LEED Gold Certification, highlighting its efficiency in design and use of sustainably harvested building materials.
The project design incorporates two distinct residential structures: a four-level podium base to coincide with the neighboring buildings and a 17-story tower designed to offer views of Center City and the waterfront.
The developers, Jeffrey Brown, Gregory Hill and Kim Frank of Brown Hill Development, anticipate the complex will be completed in 18-20 months.
“It was a pleasure working with Citizens Bank on this deal,” said President Jeffrey Brown. “The commercial real estate finance team at Citizens was very responsive and brought a number of great ideas to the table to help get this project closed.”
“Brown Hill Development is a great developer with an excellent business model,” said Ed Terry, Citizen Bank’s Regional Executive for Commercial Real Estate Finance. “There is a great need for rental homes in Philadelphia and this project offers a unique design that will include apartments and retail space.”
The amenities offered to tenants will include a 24/7 concierge desk, fitness center and co-working spaces, dedicated dog washing and grooming area, and a 7,500-square-foot outdoor green space on the fifth-floor roof.
The project is located near the recently completed Race Street Pier, an expansive public green space widely used by Old City residents, and within steps of all the retail and dining options in Old City.
For more information on commercial real estate financing, please go to the Citizens Commercial Banking website.
About Citizens Financial Group, Inc.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest financial institutions, with $137.3 billion in assets as of June 30, 2015. Headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, Citizens offers a broad range of retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals, small businesses, middle‐market companies, large corporations and institutions. In Consumer Banking, Citizens helps its retail customers “bank better” with mobile and online banking, a 24/7 customer contact center and the convenience of approximately 3,200 ATMs and approximately 1,200 Citizens Bank branches in 11 states in the New England, Mid‐Atlantic and Midwest regions. Citizens also provides mortgage lending, auto lending, student lending and commercial banking services in select markets nationwide. In Commercial Banking, Citizens offers corporate, institutional and not‐for‐profit clients a full range of wholesale banking products and services including lending and deposits, capital markets, treasury services, foreign exchange and interest hedging, leasing and asset finance, specialty finance and trade finance.
Citizens operates through its subsidiaries Citizens Bank, N.A., and Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania. Additional information about Citizens and its full line of products and services can be found at www.citizensbank.com.
