Paul Bubny is editor of Real Estate New York and part of a three-person team now covering the Philadelphia market
PHILADELPHIA-A locally based joint venture is receiving an $11-million loan through the state to remediate a 46-acre brownfield here. The site will be the future home of the Philadelphia Regional Produce Market, which has operated at the same location since 1959 and has reportedly sought a new facility since 2002.
Essington Avenue Partners, a JV of King of Prussia-based O'Neill Properties Group and Newtown Square-based Corvest Realty, is getting the low-interest loan to remediate a site that formerly held an automobile salvage operation, a scrap yard and a landfill. The two companies specialize in redeveloping disused properties. The loan was revealed by Pennvest, the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority.
"The move will help this very large produce distribution center retain more than 1,000 jobs and create more than 300 new jobs," according to a prepared release from Pennvest. "There are more than $200 million in other funds being invested in this project." Published reports say the center, which houses about 35 produce and seafood distributors, does more than $1 billion in wholesale business annually.
Last May, Gov. Ed Rendell canceled plans to move the market to the former Philadelphia Navy Yard, saying the $400-million cost was too much and the project would block expansion of seaport operations, according to published reports. The plan to build a new 85-acre facility for the produce market at the former naval terminal had been revealed in September of 2005, after the market had reportedly weighed offers to move operations to New Jersey. Calls to Pennvest and the JV were not returned by deadline.
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Paul Bubny
Paul Bubny is managing editor of Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com. He has been reporting on business since 1988 and on commercial real estate since 2007. He is based at ALM Real Estate Media Group's offices in New York City.
