Father-son team banks on high-end townhouses

A father-and-son team, Harvey and Noah Ostroff, is aiming to build and sell high-end townhouses for suburban-type buyers who love the nightlife - and might want to live at 22d and Walnut Streets in Center City.

With partners Michael Murray and Howard Siegal, the company, Center City Development, already has completed Lombard Estates and Rittenhouse Estates, townhouses bigger and wider than is typical for Philadelphia that are for sale at 18th and 19th Streets at Lombard. They're repeating the model with the development of Walnut Estates at a corner that is now a parking lot.

Starting price: $2.25 million a home. The houses at 18th and Lombard sold for between $950,000 and $2.3 million. At the other site, they sold for just under $2 million.

With high-priced standard finishes such as elevators, Porcelanosa tubs, Carrara and Bardiglio tile in the master bathrooms, 8-foot doors, wine cellars holding 300 bottles, radiant-heat floors, and night-vision security cameras, "we've spared no expense," Harvey Ostroff said.

The toilets, by Japanese brand Toto, even sense whether a man or a woman is visiting the bathrooms, and automatically lift or drop the seats accordingly.

Each of the five townhouses at Walnut Estates will face 22d Street and will rise four stories (not including finished basements). They will boast roof decks, three levels of outdoor space, and two-car garages facing the rear, with an entry gate on Chancellor Street. The architect is Atrium Design, which did Seven Inspire in Old City.

The partners also plan to develop a six-story commercial building facing Walnut Street, potentially with a tenant such as a bank or a restaurant and nine apartments above.

"Empty-nesters with large homes in the suburbs want to live in the city now," Noah Ostroff said. "The city is cool now, but they don't want to downsize from what they had. They want a suburban home with the Philly lifestyle."

Each Walnut Estates townhouse is about 20 feet wide, with floor-to-ceiling windows and loft ceilings.

As a developer, Noah Ostroff is unusual because he also works as a Keller Williams agent, representing other builders and developers in the city.

"We can't really talk about who our friendly competitors are, because I represent a lot of them," he said, laughing.

In some of their previous projects, the partners built homes in the $750,000-to-$900,000 price range.

More recently, analysis of the demographics suggested that baby boomers wanted to move into Center City without paying "humongous condo fees. High-rises in the city can charge $1,000 or $1,500 a month just in fees," Harvey Ostroff estimated.

The company builds, sells, and manages the properties. Walnut Estates will be a gated community, with owners paying about $200 a month in fees, he added.

Technology that adapts with new software will be a key feature of the homes, Noah Ostroff said.

"These are all smart houses with energy and lighting systems that can be programmed and controlled from your phone or iPad," he said. If in a few years a newer, better system comes along, extra capacity has been installed for wiring in the basement to accommodate new software or hardware.

The developers also contracted with custom-furniture maker Andrew Jacobs in the Northeast for cabinets at the 19th and Lombard and Walnut Estates homes.

Jacobs used to design yacht interiors, Harvey Ostroff said, and has designed the dark-wood, frosted-glass cabinetry in every Walnut Estates bathroom and shoe closet. The kitchens also feature quartz countertops, Sharp microwave drawers, Viking or Sub-Zero refrigerator, Wolf gas ranges, and under-cabinet lighting.

Each four-bedroom home also will have a gas fireplace designed by Harvey Ostroff and made out of island stone with a limestone mantel, a Sonos wireless system with speakers in every room, and video security cameras.

"Every corner they turn, we want the homeowner to say 'Wow' to themselves," Harvey Ostroff said.

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