Kaplins working on Fishtown, N.J. projects

Developer Andrew Kaplin is branching into Fishtown and New Jersey, expanding the business that he and his father, real estate attorney Marc B. Kaplin, started in 2005.

The Kaplins are working on about a half-dozen residential and mixed-use projects. At Revolution Development Group, Andrew Kaplin runs operations day to day. Sister Simi Kaplin Baer, a lawyer, also works for the firm, handling transactional issues.

"We have leapfrogged from Old City to South Kensington to Fishtown," Andrew Kaplin said. "South Kensington, in particular, is the next pocket of the city that could be the next Northern Liberties."

One new venture, at Second and Race Streets in Old City, is Bread Street Estates. The architect is Rich Villa of Ambit Architecture; the contractor is DCH Contractors, owned by Dave Horlacher.

The site, a parking lot acquired in 2004, is expected to have eight four-bedroom, 31/2-bath townhouses with two-car garages, priced up to $985,000 a unit.

"I knew it was a great location in Old City, and Race Street is a terrific corner," Andrew Kaplin said. He served on the board of the Old City Civic Association for 10 years, and said he learned about the business as "I grew up going to zoning meetings."

Revolution has just completed apartments at 1546 Frankford Ave. near Oxford Street in Fishtown, where Kaplin is marketing an 8,500-square-foot street-level space to a commercial tenant. ("We want a bike store, a day care, something that will attract a lot of walking foot traffic, not just another bar or coffee shop," Kaplin said.)

In the mid-2000s, Kaplin started out with a massive condominium project at 22 Front St. Not only did he battle with lenders after the financial crisis, but the condo owners sued after the company marketed some unsold units as a "retirement community" instead of as a luxury high-rise.

Last year, a Philadelphia Common Pleas Court judge ruled that the owners had a legitimate claim that the building's use had been changed without their consent. The case is continuing.

For the Race Street venture, the Kaplins have been negotiating with the city Historical Commission. The proposed Bread Street Estates was originally set to be constructed in rows running south from Race, with a center driveway. The facades would face the driveway and be clad in brick and metal panels.

Many Old City buildings have been converted to residential use, but townhouses are not typical. The Historical Commission ruled that the proposed buildings, with first-floor garages and mostly solid walls facing Race Street, were "incompatible with the surrounding streetscape and district." The Kaplins and their architects made changes and got the go-ahead for the project.

"I go to all the hearings myself, and it's just like a puzzle. You have to fit all the individual pieces together" of zoning, paperwork, bureaucracy and working with neighborhood associations," Andrew Kaplin said. "You have to have experience solving problems. The title developer is glamorous, the work is not. You have to sit in boardrooms with bankers and also work in construction sites."

The Kaplins' business is a family affair. Andrew focuses on acquisition and operation of commercial and multifamily properties, as well as finance and design. Prior to that, he worked for Legg Mason Real Estate and the Wolfson Group, a shopping-center developer. (Steve Wolfson developed Aramingo Crossings at 3800 Aramingo Avenue, attracting big-box anchor tenants such as Walmart.)

Marc Kaplin is a co-founder and principal of the law firm Kaplin Stewart and chairs its land use, zoning and development department.

In 2015, the Kaplins will break ground on the Plaza Grande in Cherry Hill, which sits on a portion of the old Garden State Park racetrack property.

The Kaplins and investors are taking over a defunct D.R. Horton project and plan to build 100 or more units, as well as completing an 18,000-square-foot clubhouse and amenities for a 55-plus residential community.

"In June 2014, we took over the project. There are very few active-adult communities in that area," Andrew Kaplin said.

The property consists of 33 acres and 16 existing buildings, with about 32 apartments per building, he said.

"It's six miles from Center City in a community with a lot of financial resources," he added.