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Plans to make Old City former paintbrush factory into a hotel are dead, says owner

Ash NYC Inc., which has redeveloped historic buildings into housing and hotels across the country, had been negotiating to lease a historic five-story structure and neighboring lot on Vine Street.

A shoe warehouse for the last 67 years, once a old paintbrush factory, would have possibly been transformed into a 150-room boutique hotel.
A shoe warehouse for the last 67 years, once a old paintbrush factory, would have possibly been transformed into a 150-room boutique hotel.Read moreTYGER WILLIAMS / Staff Photographer

A planned boutique hotel in the northern area of Old City is no longer moving forward.

New York-based developer Ash NYC Inc., which has redeveloped historic buildings into housing and hotels across the country, had been negotiating to lease a historic five-story structure and neighboring lot on Vine Street that once housed a paintbrush factory and is currently occupied by Camitta Brothers shoe wholesaler.

Richard Camitta, current owner of the building and president of Camitta Brothers, confirmed that the project is dead and said that discussions ended “for many, many reasons.” He declined to elaborate.

Spokespeople for the developer did not respond to requests for comment.

For this project, the developer had applied for Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) funds, a state grant that supports development for high-impact projects. Ash NYC Inc. had requested $5 million toward the total $41 million cost of the project, according to the grant application reviewed by The Inquirer in March.

According to the most recent listing of RACP awards, however, which features projects given funding through the beginning of May, Ash NYC Inc. has not received any funds for its project.

In the listing, the developer suggested the building would have been completely renovated and that it would “sensitively build” on the the surface parking lot next door. The hotel, when finished, would have included an event space, a lobby bar, and a roof “nestled amidst historic billboards... [with] a signature rooftop bar experience unlike anything else in Philadelphia.”

The full application had claimed the hotel would “repair a blighted block with a vacant warehouse.”

The area of Old City where the building is located, surrounded by two highways and the Vine Street Expressway, is mostly residential and has relatively few storefronts or commercial ventures.