willreign

Instead of transforming the NewMarket site into a hotel and retail complex, he sold it to a Northeast Phila. group. By Michael Klein Inquirer Staff Writer After nearly five years, entertainer Will Smith has given up his much-ballyhooed plans to develop the derelict NewMarket complex in Society Hill. He and his younger brother, Harry, recently sold the property - now a crudely fenced vacant lot on the doorstep of one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the city. The buyer is Sant Properties, of Northeast Philadelphia, owned by a family of investors who plan to build condos plus some ground-level retail. Sant, which has developed mainly commercial sites in Northeast Philadelphia, bought it for $10.5 million - more than three times what the Smiths paid in March 2000. Closing was about two weeks ago, said Ravi Chawla, a Sant partner. The Overbrook-bred Smiths paid $3.2 million for the 11/2-acre parcel bounded roughly by Pine, Lombard, Second and Front Streets. City Council approved about $9 million in tax incentives for what the Smiths envisioned as a swank hotel/retail complex with Delaware River views. Then the hotel market softened and financing became difficult, Harry Smith said in a 2001 interview. W Hotels, a hip brand of Starwood Hotels & Resorts that initially was supposed to operate the hotel, walked away in mid-2001. The Smiths had won zoning approval after lengthy meetings with neighbors. Harry Smith, who oversees his brother's real estate affairs, did not return phone calls left at his office Thursday and Friday. Chawla said he planned to speak with neighborhood groups before determining the size and scope of his project. "Everything I have is very preliminary right now," Chawla said when asked the proposed number of units and the height of the building. "Something will be built. Certainly it will be better than what's there now," he said, referring to the weedy lot. Tania Rorke, president of the Society Hill Civic Association, learned of the sale Friday. Rorke said she hoped the project would "maintain the historical integrity of our neighborhood." Chawla said Sant also has an agreement of sale to purchase the adjacent John Ross House at Second and Pine Streets. The brick buildings along Second Street at Head House Square are not affected. Chawla said he and his brother Hardeep were looking for a developer as a partner. He hoped groundbreaking could be late this year. NewMarket, whose centerpiece was a glass-and-steel pavilion, opened in 1975 at 410 S. Front St. with a mix of shops and restaurants, including the Rusty Scupper. It quickly became a white elephant. NewMarket was sold in late 1986 for $7.6 million to developers Michael DiPaolo and Gloria B. Levin. The building had a brief resurgence in the early 1990s with cabarets, including one run by entertainer Patti LaBelle, but it soon fell into disrepair. It was razed in 2002. Neighbors in 1996 fought off a proposed supermarket. Will Smith, whose plans for a recording studio and soundstage on South Broad Street also have gone nowhere, has invested millions in low-profile real estate in his hometown. Through Treyball Development Inc. - named after his son - he bought and sold an office building in Old City. Treyball also bought a furniture company on Spring Garden Street near the Spaghetti Warehouse restaurant in the Loft District, and plans to fit it out as six condo units. Treyball also owns Osborne Funeral Home at Wayne Avenue and Winona Street in Germantown. A planned sale last year to a woman who wanted to open what she called a personal-care home was scuttled after community opposition. In September's Fortune magazine, Smith's worth was estimated at $188 million. Smith's payday from the movie I, Robot was estimated at $28 million. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/lo...10598845.htm?1c

then I went to my room and put alot of gel

yes sir!!!

tring to be a hreo but u total mess when u've been asked "r u the king?" u yell Pass! test me now with my lyrical style and creazy rythem u tell me get a pencil and a paper, but I don't need em' this is the end of your battel, You are out and I am the winner with no doubt... so don't shout out loud that u lost the this fight co's in Israel every1 know that my music is tight! aight listen up, this is your chance to run for cover, RUN co's I can keep writing here battels just for FUN... so MAN I've done with thing lines, this is over and u lost your chance now 4 runing 4 cover...

GREATTT put it all the time in there!!!

come on man... just tell me u loose and that's it...

:ditto: :ditto:

happy birth day...

yep I remmember that site... it is greattt...

this is a great pic... but it's new 4 me... lol... :kekeke:

u said the begining of 2004 then middel 2004 then end 2004 then begining of 2005 and now march?...

opportunity 4 what???

what do u think (except B2R) was the best collbration song? just b4 the new cd drop and we have the time 2 chill and think a lil bit on Will this year... I hope this cd will b the best ever (how u call it? block buster?)

happy birth day 2 us!!! that's great!!!!!!!!!!!!!! JazzyJefffreshPrince 4 ever!!! (that what jazzy said in so fresh video right?)

I'm sorry I havn't understood...

I think I haven't said thank you man... so Thanks man!!! u r the best!!!

I gonna loose again... but I don't care... lets battel I'm ready...

84,000 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lost there lives in there... and the same excect number going 2 die from deasises... that horrible...

YYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Will Listen!!! "man just put your foot in Israel and I gonna show u what the real meaning of getting love from #1 FAN!!!" that's greatttttttttttttttt

yeah!!! what he said!!!.... :ditto:

I think Will need 2 make a rule 2 himself... not doing any seqwels... just foucasing in new projects and music...

google bot checks if your site alive... that's it... nuttin 2 b worried about...

lol... looks nice...

where am I? do u think I can b potna...?

wow it song like a cool stage name... from now we will call him Fresh Prince... but it's 2 long... so ill call him FP...