The Curtis Institute of Music has outbid Temple in the sale of the Art Alliance building, owned by the now-defunct University of the Arts, a Temple spokesperson confirmed to The Temple News Wednesday.
The Institute bid $7.6 million and plans on completing the purchase of the building, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. On Monday, Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry filed a limited objection to the sale of the Art Alliance building to a non-Temple entity. Temple bid $6.2 million on the property.
Henry objected to the initial sale of the building, located on 18th Street near Manning Street, to Allan Domb, a former Philadelphia City Councilmember at-large and real estate developer that ran for mayor in 2023. Domb bid $6.5 million and would have most likely developed the land into commercial real estate, Henry claimed in the filing.
“In the instant case, with Temple University being situated in Philadelphia, sharing educational principles and programs with the Debtor UArts and also having taken on a substantial portion of the students displaced by the closure of the UArts, Temple’s bid satisfies the cy pres doctrine perhaps better than any other entity in the city could, and their bid should have preference over others which lack these necessary criteria,” Henry wrote in the filing.
The Curtis Institute’s main building, on Locust Street near 18th, is just a block away from the Art Alliance building.
“The Art Alliance is an important building with a rich cultural history,” a Temple spokesperson told The Temple News. “We are delighted for the Curtis Institute of Music and confident that they will use the building to continue to foster the arts and serve future generations of students and Philadelphians.”
Temple is still the favorite to land Terra Hall, UArts’ largest building, after bidding $18 million. The bid still needs court approval, but the university plans to house its Center City campus in the building if approved, said President John Fry.
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