Philly tower developers: We'll raise $100M+
Garrett Miller and Hill International's David Richter are raising cash while they wait on their high-rise American Commerce Center
The people behind the American Commerce Center, the proposed 1,500-foot tower for the site west of Comcast Corp.'s not-quite-1,000-foot Center City headquarters, say they're raising a $100 million-plus development fund to buy more property at today's bargain prices.
"We're three to six months from our first closing," said David Richter, partner with Garrett Miller in Hill Opportunity Real Estate Fund, and boss with his father, Irving Richter, at Hill International Corp., the Marlton-based project management firm that employs 2,600 in Europe, the Americas and the Middle East.
While raising funds from rich people, they're hanging onto the high-rise site, currently a parking lot, co-owned with the Multi Employer Property Trust of Bethesda, Md., that more than pays for itself from parking fees, according to Richter. They've turned down an offer, he says, from Liberty Property Trust, which built the Comcast building: "It was so low as to be laughable."
So the tower's not dead? "It's still in the works, and it'll be in the works until we find an anchor tenant," Miller affirmed.
"For the time being, we're in the parking business," added Richter.