Bok, 50 Sims, Village of Industry & Art...Catching up with Scout

On Sunday, May 3 at 4pm, join us for a presentation of several adaptive reuse projects underway or completed by Scout Urban LLC, a developer with roots in Philadelphia and Providence. You may know Scout as the design-build development firm that was selected by the State to rehabilitate the Cranston Street Armory in 2021...until Governor McKee cancelled the contract in 2023, calling the Armory redevelopment "a local community project" in the West End. As of now, rehabilitation plans are on hold for the Armory, which at 190,000 square feet, has potential to serve as a vibrant community hub and driver of economic and cultural life that would benefit the state.
Hear from Scout's Director of Hospitality & Development, Everett Abitbol, and Managing Partner, Lindsey Scannapieco, about the firm's focus on adaptive reuse, and their conversion of historic schools, academic and industrial buildings into mixed-use hubs with a focus on community, culture, and affordability.

Projects in Philadelphia include the Village of Industry and Art (2025, ongoing), rehabilitating Haviland Hall (1824, John Haviland) and Furness Hall (1875, Frank Furness) into affordable artist housing, studios, makerspace and small business, and Bok (2015, ongoing) renovation of a 340,000 square-foot historic school in South Philadelphia into a hub for more than 200 small businesses. In Providence, Scout's work includes the redevelopment of 50 Sims (2022) for small, local and light industrial businesses and workforce development.

Their presentation will be followed by a reception with snacks, drinks, and a chance to mingle.

About Scout

Since joining Scout in 2020, Everett Abitbol has played a leading role in transforming underutilized sites — such as Philadelphia’s Bok Building, Providence’s 50 Sims and the Village of Industry & Art — into vibrant, mixed-use hubs for artists, small businesses, and community programs. Alongside his work at Scout, Everett continues to lead Deacon Hospitality Group, a practice he founded in 2019 to reimagine historic properties as welcoming, design-forward hotels and event spaces. His first project, The Deacon — a historic church in Philadelphia — was transformed into an intimate hotel and gathering space that honors the building’s spiritual and architectural legacy. Partnering with designer Shannon Maldonado of Yowie, Everett extended this vision to Dye House in Providence, converting a former textile facility into an artful boutique hotel and cultural venue, and the Yowie Hotel in Philadelphia.

Lindsey Scannapieco co-founded scout UK in 2011, then moved back to her native Philadelphia and established scout US in 2015. Lindsey holds a B.S. from the University of Southern California and a Master's in City Design & Social Science from the London School of Economics. She is actively engaged in the wider development of the city as a board member of Fleisher Arts Memorial and as the co-president of the Friends of FDR Park. Lindsey was recognized as a "40 under 40" by the Philadelphia Business Journal in 2023 and received the Emerging Leader Award by ULI Philadelphia in 2023.

This program is organized in collaboration with West Broadway Neighborhood Association and is followed by a related tour of the Cranston Street Armory on Monday, May 4 at 9am. These events are ticketed separately. More information about the May 4 tour

Sunday, May 3 // 4 - 5:30pm
Location: 50 Sims Avenue, Providence
Tickets are free with a suggested donation of $15 (or more!)
All donations support WBNA and PPS’s advocacy efforts to save and repurpose the Armory.

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