Market East Transformation?

**MNG1324** · 10-24-2012, 02:04 PM

i'm glad they are leaving the Lit Brothers building alone, but TimesSquare the rest of that area.

**MarketStEl** · 10-24-2012, 04:38 PM

The only reason this proposal even made it this far is because historic buildings that once had signs on them, as Lits did, could have signs put back on them under the ordinance. Otherwise, historic buildings along East Market Street are not included in the sign ordinance - which means no scrolling ticker or flashing lights on Wanamakers/Macy's. I think the Hard Rock Cafe's big guitar also fell under this provision, or may have predated the ordinance; in either case, it occupies the space where the neon "Reading Terminal - Market" sign once was mounted and then some. That sign, as you know, has been restored and hung next to the most heavily used entrance to the Market, on 12th Street just north of Filbert.

**New2Fishtown** · 10-25-2012, 01:54 PM

This link from philadelphia real estate blog provides some interesting, albeit incomplete, dialogue from a PREIT conference call about the gallery project. Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust's CEO Discusses Q3 2012 Results - Earnings Call Transcript - Seeking Alpha

It's a little hard to piece together given the sections that aren't directly quoted due to hearing problems on the call, but the interesting points for me was that they describe the project as in the "formative stages" (not as far as i would've liked), that they say that they're actively looking for new tenants for a certain section (i believe the same section that the Inky moved to), that re-tenanting there can happen regardless of whether they successfully acquire the portion they don't own, and that the "slowness of the government decision-making process" makes timeline hard to predict, and that the scale of the project will depend on the level of public subsidy. Towards the very end, they say something about hearing more details at a November 8th event, but I'm not sure what they mean by that exactly.

**londoner** · 10-25-2012, 02:05 PM

Originally Posted by New2Fishtown

This link from philadelphia real estate blog provides some interesting, albeit incomplete, dialogue from a PREIT conference call about the gallery project. Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust's CEO Discusses Q3 2012 Results - Earnings Call Transcript - Seeking Alpha

It's a little hard to piece together given the sections that aren't directly quoted due to hearing problems on the call, but the interesting points for me was that they describe the project as in the "formative stages" (not as far as i would've liked), that they say that they're actively looking for new tenants for a certain section (i believe the same section that the Inky moved to), that re-tenanting there can happen regardless of whether they successfully acquire the portion they don't own, and that the "slowness of the government decision-making process" makes timeline hard to predict, and that the scale of the project will depend on the level of public subsidy. Towards the very end, they say something about hearing more details at a November 8th event, but I'm not sure what they mean by that exactly.

Cool, so in the meantime we're gonna see a lot of this:

Stay Classy Market East!

**kidphilly** · 10-25-2012, 05:30 PM

anyone able to confirm this?

Originally Posted by Ritz48

You don't know what is already happening in the Wanamaker Building....Macy's is already seeking to reclaim some of the office space above the 3rd floor. In the short term, they are going to relocate their management offices from the 3rd floor and some stock room space into the upper floors of the Wanamaker building. Macy's has already identified this store as 1 of 20 stores (out of 650 nationwide) as a focus growth store. Terry Lundgren (Macy's chairman)is conveening a meeting of the key execs shortly to develop a strategic plans for the Wanamaker building and center city growth. Only a handlful of stores nationally get this attention. The Center City store is on track to become the highest volume store in the Philadelphia metro area in 2012 surpassing Cherry Hill and King of Prussia which just a few years ago trailed by 20-30%. The expansion of the hotel/convention center and residential has fueled this growth.

**krapug1** · 10-26-2012, 11:04 AM

Originally Posted by kidphilly

anyone able to confirm this?

Unless Macy's sends out a Press Release, or includes this information in their 2012 Fact Book, it will be difficult to confirm.

What is a fact is that the three floors that Macy's rents from the owner of the Wanamaker Building comprise just over 368,000. square feet, inlcluding the various mezzanine levels. At present they are using around 160,000. square feet for selling space.
This leaves them with a good amount of space that could be renovated into selling area within the space that they lease.

Macy's has nothing to "re-claim" on the upper floors, it is not their building to claim, they are a tenant, no more, and no less.

The Wanamaker Building itself is one of Center City's most profitable office buildings, and had operated at close to 100% occupancy since it's retrofit as a mixed use building. When May Company renegotiated their lease for Lord and Taylor, the 4th and 5th floors became part of the Wanamaker Building, and there was a waiting list for potential office tenants.

Ken

**eldondre** · 10-26-2012, 11:28 AM

Originally Posted by krapug1

Unless Macy's sends out a Press Release, or includes this information in their 2012 Fact Book, it will be difficult to confirm.

What is a fact is that the three floors that Macy's rents from the owner of the Wanamaker Building comprise just over 368,000. square feet, inlcluding the various mezzanine levels. At present they are using around 160,000. square feet for selling space.
This leaves them with a good amount of space that could be renovated into selling area within the space that they lease.

Macy's has nothing to "re-claim" on the upper floors, it is not their building to claim, they are a tenant, no more, and no less.

The Wanamaker Building itself is one of Center City's most profitable office buildings, and had operated at close to 100% occupancy since it's retrofit as a mixed use building. When May Company renegotiated their lease for Lord and Taylor, the 4th and 5th floors became part of the Wanamaker Building, and there was a waiting list for potential office tenants.

Ken

I'm sure "reclaim" meant retail space. the wanamaker is a great building for both office and retail. If you wanted great shopping building, that would be it. you are probably correct that macy's will first use more of its leased space for retail. too bad they can't get rid of some of the parking and put the offices down there...or more retail as it used to be.

**hammersklavier** · 10-26-2012, 01:21 PM

If you take a look up at the fourth floor, you'll notice that many of the office spaces there have gone dark. If Macy's is indeed pursuing this strategy, it's likely that they are buying out the office leases and are intending to move store and district management into the offices fronting the atrium, while using the remainder of the floor for storage, thereby allowing them to open up more floor space and the mezzanines for retail.

Remember, there is no separate freight elevator for the office portion of the structure; the infrastructure within the building was optimized for Wanamaker's and has been repurposed since. Also, if Macy's is indeed pursuing this strategy, it has the benefit of not needing to worry about the different HVAC systems for the retail and office portion.

**Notcom** · 10-26-2012, 01:55 PM

Originally Posted by New2Fishtown

"slowness of the government decision-making process" makes timeline hard to predict, and that the scale of the project will depend on the level of public subsidy. .

Red Flag Alert

**Cro Burnham** · 10-26-2012, 04:20 PM

Originally Posted by Notcom

Red Flag Alert

This would definitely be a good candidate for TIF financing (unless 10-year tax abatement is considered better) and maybe PIDC's immigrant investor bridge funding. Not sure what other subsidies they think the city can ante up. Not like the city has alot of money to toss around. State RACP funds could also help a bit, but nothing that will be more than a drop in the bucket on a $300 million project, particularly with Corbett manning the taps.

**kidphilly** · 10-29-2012, 12:48 PM

Large Project Coming Behind the Gallery, But More Info is Hard to Find | NakedPhilly

**mixiboi** · 10-29-2012, 05:35 PM

Originally Posted by kidphilly

Large Project Coming Behind the Gallery, But More Info is Hard to Find | NakedPhilly

It will come...when they are ready..I'm just glad things are moving

**y.lama** · 10-30-2012, 10:43 AM

$60M deal for Kmart building on Market Street nearly complete
lots of good quotes from PREIT

**mixiboi** · 10-30-2012, 10:56 AM

""Forget about what we do," he said. "Think about controlling three blocks of real estate in the fifth-largest city in the United States on the No. 1 street address - Market Street - between the Convention Center, the Constitution Center, Independence Hall."

Yup...

**jn00** · 10-31-2012, 01:45 PM

Looks like a Big Lots is heading to Market East in the old Valu-Plus.

A lot of clothing retailers along Market in Phila., now another - Philadelphia Business Journal

**hammersklavier** · 10-31-2012, 02:30 PM

Well the big boxes cometh...

**mixiboi** · 10-31-2012, 02:41 PM

Its a good to see that our toxicity isnt as strong as those say it is...

**Jayfar** · 10-31-2012, 02:57 PM

Originally Posted by jn00

Looks like a Big Lots is heading to Market East in the old Valu-Plus.

A lot of clothing retailers along Market in Phila., now another - Philadelphia Business Journal

The article doesn't say Big Lots, but rather Lot Stores, unless they're the same. I and yelp seem to recall there was one of these near there on Chestnut until recent years.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/lot-stores-philadelphia-4

**Jayfar** · 10-31-2012, 03:02 PM

Originally Posted by Jayfar

The article doesn't say Big Lots, but rather Lot Stores, unless they're the same. I and yelp seem to recall there was one of these near there on Chestnut until recent years.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/lot-stores-philadelphia-4

Yep, I found a google street view pic of a Lot Stores in the Bronx and that's definitely what used to be on Chesnut. Ultra-downscale.

https://maps.google.com/maps?q=1301+...ENmd0K5aIKbA9g

**Kukla65th** · 10-31-2012, 07:33 PM

Originally Posted by MarketStEl

The only reason this proposal even made it this far is because historic buildings that once had signs on them, as Lits did, could have signs put back on them under the ordinance. Otherwise, historic buildings along East Market Street are not included in the sign ordinance - which means no scrolling ticker or flashing lights on Wanamakers/Macy's. I think the Hard Rock Cafe's big guitar also fell under this provision, or may have predated the ordinance; in either case, it occupies the space where the neon "Reading Terminal - Market" sign once was mounted and then some. That sign, as you know, has been restored and hung next to the most heavily used entrance to the Market, on 12th Street just north of Filbert.

Incidentally, the Wanamaker building did for years have a tall, projecting neon John Wanamaker sign on the Market Street side at corner with 13th. So could it perhaps qualify for signage? Doubt they'd ever want it, but was curious.

Wasn't the Reading Terminal Market sign once located way up near the top of the head house building diagonally mounted facing 12 & Market? One can see marks where it was. Though I think there were three such signs in the past in different locations.