A New York City investor has acquired a former law office on North Front Street in Harrisburg and plans to convert the former mansion into an eight-unit apartment building to be called Front Street Lofts.
The investor, a family office called Generational Wealth Organization that also has a presence in California, paid $633,000 for the building.
It had been owned by attorneys Jeff Boswell, Jeff Piccola and Leonard Tintner of the law firm Boswell Tintner & Piccola, which is now based in Camp Hill.
Matt Healey and Bill Rothman of Lemoyne-based RSR Realtors represented the buyer and the seller.
The apartment conversion is slated to take about a year, said Vernon Jay, managing partner of the family office and CEO of one of its holdings, a crowdfunding platform and public benefit company called Equity Platforms.
“I think if you are going to live in Harrisburg, this is going to be the place where you want to lay your head,” Jay said in an interview yesterday with biznewsPA.
Where is this happening: The stately 8,900 square-foot building is at 315 N. Front St.
It was originally built in 1850, according to Dauphin County tax records cited by the Harrisburg planning commission during the approval process for the apartment conversion.
Boswell Tintner moved out about three years ago, said Healey, a broker with RSR.
The firm’s website indicates it had been in the building since 1973, and that the building was originally constructed as a Presbyterian Manse and private residence.
What’s the project: Jay said the conversion will result in six one-bedroom apartments and a pair of two-bedroom apartments.
One of the two-bedroom units will be in a carriage house on the property, which is at the corner of North Front and Barbara streets.
Two of the units will be designated as affordable, most likely as within reach of people making 80% of the area median income, Jay said.
The average rent will be $1,700, he added.
The budget for the conversion is $367,000. he said, noting that as a former residence, the building is conducive to a conversion.
The contractor is Josh Barker, a Brooklynite who moved to Harrisburg about nine years ago, Jay said.
Barker introduced Jay and his family office to the state capital, where they now own seven other properties, including a retail store at 236 Reily St. called fltbys, a hip hop and skate culture brand developed by hip-hop lyricist, Kota the Friend, who is Jay’s brother. Their father also is involved in the family office.
“He introduced us to the market, and we fell in love with it,” Jay said of Barker.
The city’s appeal lies in the riverfront views and the burgeoning Midtown district, as well as its status as the state capital, Jay said.
The trend: Demand for office space has been waning in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, while demand for housing has grown.
Several office buildings in downtown Harrisburg have been converted to apartments.
