The not so sweet but still Divine Lorraine Hotel

A ‘Billboard of Blight’ in Philadelphia Acts as a Catalyst for a Revival.  (The New York Times, 9/8/2015)

The project is the latest chapter in the life of the building, which was completed in 1894. One of Philadelphia’s first high-rises, it was once home to residents made wealthy by Philadelphia’s manufacturing boom of the early 20th century. 

It later became the city’s first racially integrated hotel under the ownership of the eponymous Father Jealous Divine, an African-American spiritual leader who bought the property in 1948. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002 but then gutted by the last owner, leaving the bare brick and timbers that are visible inside today.

Also of interest:
The Divine Lorraine Hotel.
Divine Lorraine Hotel.  (Building Philadelphia)
The Divine Lorraine Hotel in Philadelphia.  (The Underground Detective, 6/18/2015)
Abandoned Philadelphia:  The Divine Lorraine Hotel.  (Web Urbanist, 5/29/2013)
The Divine Lorraine Hotel.  (Philly History Blog, 3/26/2007)