After decades hanging in limbo, the former Willow Street Steam Generation Plant is primed for a revival as a 73-unit apartment building. Current owner James Maransky, a real estate developer and president of construction firm E-Built, has undertaken the monumental project. This may have the sound of a story told before: new life has been promised for the building for many decades, most recently as an apartment building under prior owner John Wei just two years ago. However, that was before E-Built purchased the building at 411-419 N. 9th Street from Wei for a cool $8.8 million. Maransky said this time it is for real.

Extensive remediation work on the building has been completed. Work framing out the interior and restoring the exterior of the historic building has begun, activity that recently caught attention of onlookers posting on social media. If things go according to plan, Maransky explained it won’t be long before the building fully leaves behind its days as a steam generation plant and transforms into something new. “We are fully rocking and rolling,” said Maransky, adding that he predicts a mid-2026 opening.

Willow Steam’s iconic three stacks are staying, albeit with refinishing. Workers are also currently rappelling from the building’s 7th story roof to pressure wash and otherwise touch up its primarily red brick and steel facades.

Skeptics may find some comfort in Maransky’s priors. Perhaps most apropos is E-Built’s recent development of the 10-story Gotham Silk Hosiery Company factory in Kensington into upscale apartments and retail space, an effort that won a 2022 award from the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia. Other notable projects are the buildout of the Bok Bar roof and redevelopment of the Engine 29 firehouse on 4th Street near Girard Avenue, which received a 2025 Preservation Alliance award.

Maransky’s plans for Willow Steam have also won support from local community organizations. “I’m excited to hear that this building will be preserved and have a new life,” Vincent DiMaria, zoning co-chair for the Callowhill Neighborhood Association, wrote in an email. “I hope that construction goes quickly and smoothly, and I look forward to welcoming new neighbors to this area.”

Running Out of Steam

Built in 1927, the Willow Steam Plant is a vestige of a relatively unique heating system still in use in some parts of Center City today. As the United States began to electrify in the 1880s, the Edison Electric Light Company set up shop at 908 Sansom Street, burning coal to generate electricity to sell. However, an add-on quickly followed, as steam from the plant’s machinery was repurposed to heat a nearby home.

That method grew into an extended network, with additional plants like Willow Steam popping up nearby to push steam through dozens of miles of underground pipelines and heat buildings throughout Center City and into West Philadelphia. Willow Steam was originally constructed by the Philadelphia Electric Company (PECO). The building fell into disuse by the 1970s and was then sold and resold many times over, all while deteriorating further into disrepair.

A few ideas for reuse were floated, but never came to fruition. One proposal was to convert it to a facility to burn trash and create steam. Another was the site for huge, wraparound advertising. Eventually, the building came to be owned by Quyen V. Tran. Incensed by its continued deterioration, a pair of Bella Vista residents and attorneys, Joel Palmer and Jeff Goldman, filed a state Act 135 petition against the property. As chronicled in a 2016 Philadelphia Inquirer article, the pair sought to take conservatorship of the property through their nonprofit, Scioli Turco Inc.

That never came to pass after Chinatown developer John Wei purchased the building and began a remediation process that ultimately appeased a judge overseeing the matter. Wei then sought and obtained permits to convert the building into a 69-unit apartment building with ground-floor commercial space. But Wei, who public records indicate has encountered financial hardship, later sold the building to E-Built.

Knocking the Rust Off

As part of the deal, Maransky said Wei agreed to finish the bulk of the remediation process prior to the sale in return for a premium on the price. “The interior is totally clean,” he said, adding that the only hurdle that remains is monitoring groundwater wells required by state standards.

Because Wei had already received new use permits, there were few permitting hurdles left to clear. Maransky did file some modifications with the City, changing the number of units from 69 to 73 and eliminating the ground floor commercial space. E-Built’s development team, at the direction of Lizzy McGowan, is also rehabbing the property’s basement and vault to include a swimming pool, sauna, gym, theatre room, and golf simulator. “We liked [commercial], but at the same time it’s not the best,” Maransky said. “Traffic is tough to get. 9th Street is cut off. There’s no direct flow from Center City. There’s not a ton of parking as well.” Another amenity will be a large rooftop deck with Center City skyline views and space for pets. Two elevators were installed. Plans call for 14 parking spaces.

On the exterior, architectural renderings show existing metal features of the building painted dark gray. Red brick is restored and so are many of the building’s copious original windows, which Maransky explained will be done in line with historic standards. Inside the building will be market rate apartments including studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom units with high ceilings and exposed brick walls.

Maransky said the building’s historic nature was an attractive attribute. He filed for and received recognition for the building on the National Register of Historic Places in January, which will allow E-Built to access some tax credits and other financial incentives. He said the company is also uniquely equipped to financially handle such a project given that it has both development and construction arms, cutting down on overhead. Maransky noted that the building’s sturdy construction as one that would be prohibitively expensive to build in today’s market.

Beth Grossman, managing director of reBuilding Blocks, the nonprofit successor of Scioli Turco, said the news that Willow Steam is finding an adaptive reuse is an ideal example of how the Act 135 process, originally initiated by her organization, is supposed to work. “Any time a historic property can be reconfigured and put back into productive use, it thrills us,” she says. “We are very happy.”

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