Hotel to fill in gap on west Market Street between Aramark HQ and planned Morgan Lewis law firm tower

Investment group Lubert-Adler has acquired the three early-20th-century industrial loft buildings beside Aramark Corp.'s headquarters on west Market Street with plans to convert the properties into an upscale hotel.

The group is proposing a luxury hotel of as many as 180 guest rooms with dining space that it hopes will be filled by a yet-to-be-identified local restaurateur, according a person with knowledge of the plan but unauthorized to discuss it publicly.

The project is also to include 50,000 square feet of office space for lease, the person said.

Lubert-Adler principal Ira Lubert did not immediately respond to a message seeking details of the plan. Adriano Calvanese, a vice president with PMC Property Group, from which Lubert-Adler acquired the properties, also did not return a call.

The hotel building would be constructed as an “overbuild” atop the three, three- and four-story buildings on the southwest corner of the 2300 block of Market Street, including the former home of the Philadelphia Art Institute’s culinary school.

The Philadelphia Department of Licenses and Inspections issued zoning permits for a construction project that would reach 11 stories at its highest point to be used for visitor accommodations, offices, and dining.

The hotel would share the southern side of Market Street’s 2300 block with Aramark’s new headquarters building, which was also constructed using an aged industrial building as its base. That building is also home to Entercom Communications Corp. and the Fitler Club private membership club.

A new headquarters tower for law firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, meanwhile, is under development across 23rd Street to the potential hotel site’s immediate east.