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PHILADELPHIA-University Partners, a division of Dallas-based FirstWorthing, will break ground this spring for a multifamily mid-rise with ground-floor retail along the 3900 block of Walnut Street in University City. This is one of several such projects under way or planned to be built by private developers under long-term ground leases on land owned by the University of Pennsylvania.

A university-owned, single-story retail asset on the land is currently being razed to make way for the development. University Partners has signed a 65-year lease for the parcel for an undisclosed price. The new building, which has not yet been named, will contain approximately 150 residential rental units and about 40,000 sf of retail/commercial space. The construction cost is expected to exceed $50 million.

Locally based Erdy McHenry Architecture LLC is designing the building. It is expected to open within 18 to 24 months of groundbreaking. The development "is part of Penn's goal to provide as many as 1,000 off-campus rental housing units and more retail near the campus and east of 40th Street by 2009," a spokesman for the University tells GlobeSt.com. A call to University Partners was not returned by deadline.