Bed Fellows: Drapes by Maki Yamamoto, bedding by Kellijane, furniture by Mixed Company.

By turning the Packard Building at 15th and Chestnut into The Grande -- a tower of offices, shops and apartments -- Metro Development Company (MDC) and its president, David Grasso, have found the jewel in their real estate crown. By making a stand in Philly’s long-neglected "downtown" -- buying up Grande corner, Roy’s Restaurant at 15th and Sansom and 1510 Chestnut’s Corn Exchange -- MDC is attempting to revitalize one of the city’s finest real estate stretches.

"I'm creating my own critical mass," laughed Grasso of his klatch of hot spots. "The Grande is the anchor."

Built in 1924, the Revival-style skyscraper -- designed by architects Ritter and Shay, fronted by Samuel Yellin-designed iron gates -- had become part of the National Register of Historic Places. But Grasso knew that at nearly 400,000 square feet, and minus efficient floor plates for a modern office tenant, the building would be as much headache as historic.
"It needed a complete retrofit gut and refurbishing of mechanical systems, while utilizing the space's monumental architecture," said Grasso.

Seat Of Power: The view from the Minima room at the Grande.

The Grande's 11 floors of office space (mostly city operations like Philly's health dept.), 25,000 square feet of retail space that was the former Pennsylvania company's bank lobby and 153 apartments had to maintain the building's old-world charm.

"Having worked on historic properties, maintaining original character and historic fabric -- as much as we can of the architect's vision -- is crucial," said Grasso.

As well as taking advantage of its rectangular spaces, high ceilings and long windows overlooking Billy Penn, MDC held onto history for little things like matching original paint colors and adding a new iron-and-glass canopy atop its entrance at 111 S. 15th, to match the monumental Yellin gates.

Part of retrofitting the Grande -- a $50 million overhaul -- meant upgrading its innards. As well as lining apartments with granite countertops and stainless steel appliances, Grasso had an idea.

"We knew the apartments were hot. But we had to show new younger tenants -- 25 to 35 -- what hip and modern approaches could be taken." To that end, Grasso brought in Old City's toniest home designers -- Minima, Mixed Company, Flotsam + Jetsam and Foster's Urban Homeware -- and gave each their own space in which to portray individual takes on groovy apartment living. For eight weeks, each lifestyle shop presented its finest definitive wares, giving would-be renters an opportunity to see the potential of high-definition design.

"They wanted pretty apartments," said Mixed Company owner/stylist Bernadette Lawler. "That brought the designers on the block together as we've never been before. We're anxious to do this again for upcoming apartment complexes."

While F+J offered a mix of antiques and classic contemporary furnishing for a pale, spartan space, Foster's presented a highly stylized tangerine dream of Karim Rashid-like retro. Lawler's Mixed Company used mixed mid-century International Modern furnishings and vintage touches with local modern Pop artists like John Stango to portray a refined but neutral colorful kitsch. The scheme included an antique, navy blue Spanish armoire, hand-painted with green and gold and custom-made, see-through graphic black-and-silver drapes by fabric artiste Maki Yamamoto. The bedroom was Asian '50s, done in reds and pinks with a mahogany headboard from her neighbor, Upbeat. The headboard was a reddish screen populated with concubines. The bed had delicate sheets by Kellijane.

"I wanted something modern but cozy -- not cold," said Lawler of her room, which she estimates featured between $30,000 and $50,000 worth of time and furnishings. While Lawler offered warmth, Minima's now-former co-owner and stylist, Juliette Brody, offered the cool, Op-to-Pop Italian minimalism Minima is famous for: a high-end look starring Milanese designer Piero Lissoni's living divani sofa, curtains of Maharam textile design, Artifort globe chairs, polished lacquer coffee tables from Hopi, Vitra's Panton dining room chairs and "the glossy" dining table from Kartell.

"I wanted something contemporary and very sleek," said Brody of her neutrally toned 800-square-foot room.

"Very charcoal, white and gray with splashes of red and orange from the Kartell and Cappellini touches. That's the look I think appeals to that youngish audience," said Brody of a room she estimates cost between $10,000 and $15,000.

Since July and August, Minima and Mixed Company have had requests for individual pieces and ideas based on their Grande collections.

"A lot of people not normally here have been through based on the Grande," said Brody. "People came in and asked for items from the Minima room.'"

But mostly, the collaboration, said Lawler, opened North Third Street's finest to newer markets of incoming city dwellers. "North Third had been closed down for so long due to repairs and constructions, it definitely opened the block to new customers."