Mark Croce has expanded his downtown property portfolio. The restaurateur and property owner purchased the two-story building that was home to The Continental nightclub and an adjacent parking lot at 212-216 Franklin Street yesterday. Croce’s Baja Beach Club Inc. purchased the sites from FAC Downtown LLC for $375,000. The properties are adjacent to the Curtiss Building where Croce’s plans for a 72-room boutique hotel have been revived.
Croce has other holdings on the block. Teaming with James Jerge, he purchased the parking lot on the site of the Media Study Building at 207 Delaware Avenue (demolished in 1998) and the historic Hertz Parking Garage at 73-77 Huron Street in October 2003 for $1.8 million.
In 2002, Croce started talking about converting the six-story, terra cotta clad Curtiss Building at 204 Franklin Street into a boutique hotel or mixed-use entertainment venue. Nearly $6 million in community revitalization tax credits for the $15.4 million hotel project were approved in November.
Entry image by Obmah1960 on Flickr.