Hotel Blue on Broad

The Freedom theater may soon get a new neighbor at the former sight of the Blue Horizon boxing venue on North Broad Street.  Mosaic Development Partners came a step closer on Tuesday to turning the site into a boutique hotel with restaurants and a jazz club.

The Philadelphia City Planning Commission Tuesday voted in support of zoning bill 120015, which would change the zoning of the site from C2 to C4 commercial, an adjustment needed to move the project forward.  Mosaic wants to change the historic mansion and other properties at 1314-16 North Broad  into an eight-story, 80-plus room hotel with event space, day spa, jazz club, and a restaurant with a distillery.

Commissioners are not pleased with the aesthetics of the building and hope that some changes can be made.  Many hoped that the historic preservation society had taken part in the use of the site.  The renderings are poor substitute to the beautiful 19th Century brown stone building, but this is Philadelphia, so be prepared for a flat wall with rectangular cut outs accompanied by a mural on its south side.  We can do much better than this "mosaic Development Partners"!!!!