Philadelphia, PA

The Black Sheep

Restaurants withstand a lot of wear and tear, but their continuous operations often make it difficult to undertake major deferred maintenance projects. Through careful planning, we were able to execute a series of projects—masonry restoration, mechanical systems upgrade, kitchen repairs, and a structural repair to the sidewalk—without closing the restaurant.

ProjectHistoric Preservation, Deferred Maintenance
Construction Cost$750,000
ContractorsO’Neil Masonry, MMB Contractors, Armor Masonry, Fresh Philadelphia Quality Roofing, Frusco

Keeping the Doors Open and the Taps Flowin’

Historic Preservation

As an authentic Irish pub, the Black Sheep’s historic architecture is an integral part of its identity. Therefore, maintaining its historic character is essential. Like many commercial building owners, understanding the unique regulatory requirements for historic structures was outside their everyday experience. We helped make sure the improvements adhered to the City’s historic standards.

With a limited budget, the Black Sheep attempted to minimize fees and expenditures so they could maximize the amount of money spent on building improvements. Utilizing a design-build approach, we asked contractors to propose scopes of work, and we then had to “level” their bids to understand the differences in approach. We helped create an “apples-to-apples” analysis to allow the restaurant to select the contractors that best suited them.

Maintaining Restaurant Operations was Key

Most importantly, Black Sheep is the official bar in Philadelphia for Manchester United games. They even got a premier league shout out for their dedication to the club. We helped to plan the required upgrades in a way that allowed the Black Sheep to safely serve its customers throughout the renovations.

Becker Fondorf Philosophy skyscraper

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