Yesterday’s Inky ran a piece about developer Eric Blumenfeld’s bid for the historic and very derelict Divine Lorraine Hotel up on North Broad Street, near Fairmount. Blumenfeld has had great success in that neck of the woods with transforming an old clothing factory into Lofts 640, where Marc Vetri and Jeff Michaud have Osteria on the the ground floor, and the redevelopment former Wilkie auto showroom where another Vetri restaurant Alla Spina took up residency next door to Stephen Starr’s Route 6. Now the developer is reportedly in talks with Jose Garces to open a restaurant in the Divine Lorraine, according to the Insider. While a Garces venture on North Broad would certainly signal the neighborhood was in full turnaround — and victory for the entire city — there’s no guarantee that the talks will actually result in restaurant there. Here’s hoping Garces gets on board for a little Divine intervention. [Insider]
