A rendering of the soon-to-be-upgraded Metropolitan Opera House in Philadelphia — Courtesy: Procida Funding
By Joshua Burd
A developer is set to restore the historic Metropolitan Opera House in Philadelphia with the help of $58 million in financing arranged by Procida Funding, an Englewood Cliffs-based firm.
Procida announced recently that the financing, including $4.2 million of equity by the firm, has cleared the way for developer Eric Blumenfeld to renovate the 110-year-old property on North Broad Street. Designed by Oscar Hammerstein, the building will serve as a Live Nation concert venue and will be used for church services on Sundays and other community uses.
Blumenfeld has hired Domus Construction and Atkin Olshin Schade Architects, which specializes in theaters and historical restorations, to oversee the rehabilitation. The project follows Procida’s involvement in the renovation of the Divine Lorraine Hotel, for which it provided more than $75 million in financing, and other historic buildings on North Broad Street.
The other lenders and investors in the Opera House project include the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the city of Philadelphia, Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Fulton Bank and Enhanced Capital.
“It’s a pleasure to work in Philadelphia,” said William Procida, CEO and president of Procida Funding, noting that the firm has regular direct contact with stakeholders such as Gov. Tom Wolf, City Council President Darrell Clarke, Director of Planning and Development Anne Fadullon and PIDC President John Grady.
“Without them and their staffs this would have never been possible,” Procida said in a prepared statement. “The folks at Fulton Bank and Enhanced Capital rounded out the funding team and were great to work with. Now after six months of lawyer and banker meetings, I’m excited to get back to what we do best — getting things built! Or in this case restored.”
