PHILADELPHIA-CAMDEN-WILMINGTON-ATLANTIC CITY-READING | Metro Development Thread

[summersm343]

South Jersey rehab and nursing center closing, eliminating 323 jobs

A South Jersey nursing and rehabilitation center is closing after receiving a notice that it is being decertified from participation in the Medicare and Medicaid programs by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

The 220-bed Mount Laurel Center for Rehab and Healthcare filed a notice with the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce that as a result of the decertification, it is terminating operations which will result in the loss of 323 jobs. The affected workers include nurses, nursing assistants, dietary aides and housekeeping aides.

http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelp...e-closing.html

[summersm343]

Clothing retailer to close up local operations, affecting 164 jobs

The parent company of Catherines, a fashion label for full-figured women, is closing up the clothing company’s Bensalem, Pa., offices in a move that affects 164 jobs.

Ascena Retail Group Inc., of Mahwah, N.J., will move Catherines' Bucks County operations to Columbus, Ohio, where it will co-locate with the home office of another clothing brand, Lane Bryant. Ascena also owns Lane Bryant. Catherines occupies a 145,000-square foot building at 3750 State Road and Ascena plans to eventually put the property up for sale.

Catherines has been around since 1960 and was part of Charming Shoppes Inc., a retail company based in Bensalem that Ascena bought in 2012.

The move will take place between August and December of this year and the office will close at the end of this year. As a result of the closure, 39 jobs will be permanently eliminated and around 125 jobs will be relocated or rehired in Columbus, Ohio, Ascena said in a statement.

The closure is part of operational changes Ascena (NASDAQ:ASNA) is making companywide. Ascena owns a range of clothing brands including Ann Taylor, Loft, Dressbarn, Lane Bryant, Catherines and Justice.

http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelp...alem-ohio.html

[summersm343]

Phila. tech leaders are committing to Camden, but can the city support a startup scene?

Khai Tran is pragmatic. The head of Waterfront Ventures, an economic development organization that operates Waterfront Labs, a coworking space in Camden, has the ambitious goal of establishing a startup scene in the city. But he knows what he’s working with — deep poverty, pervasive crime and, conversely, promise.

“We have to be realistic. We’re not going to tie anyone down to grow their startup or force anyone to stay in Camden, because it’s not where it should be yet,” said Tran. “It might take us three to five years for Camden to be fully revitalized and attractive for startups to stay.”

But he’s convinced it will happen.

Structures that will house a large manufacturer and two major corporate headquarters are rising on Camden’s side of the Delaware, and the county police established four years ago has earned accolades from former President Barack Obama for ameliorating public safety.

While unemployment remains a persistent issue, Tran says building an environment where tech startups can establish a foothold in the city and remain here — combined with efforts from nonprofit Hopeworks ‘N Camden to train city youth in programming and development skills — will provide pathways to well-paying jobs for residents.

“We want to make sure when the students graduate, they don’t leave Camden, that they can find really good job opportunities down the street,” Tran said. “That money, that innovation, if you can keep it it shows a city that’s growing.”

It’s far from an overnight process. Building successful tech ecosystems is a challenge almost every U.S. city is working on, and Camden is coming to the effort as an underdog, to say the least.

“One thing we’re not doing is we’re not competing with Philly," he said. "Philly has amenities Camden will never have, but for both cities to thrive, we have to work with everyone around us.”

The first major outcome of that cooperation is Camden Catalyst, a student pitch competition proposed by Bob Moul, a serial tech entrepreneur and leader in the region’s startup community. He put $10,00 toward the $25,000 grand prize of the competition, to be held on Sept. 16. It also awards a free year of coworking space at Waterfront Labs, which ties into the competition's local focus. It requires students pitch brand new startup ideas, locate in Camden, make their first hire a Camden resident and ensure at least half of future staff will also be city dwellers. The deadline to apply is June 30.

“Helping the residents is one of the most difficult challenges. It’s easy to help businesses because when you help businesses they in turn provide economic benefits. Helping residents is totally different story. The best way for us to help the other residents in the city is making sure the students stay here,” Tran said, adding he hopes efforts like Hopeworks will help raise current residents economic viability so they can withstand the changes that are coming including gentrification. “If we can provide opportunities for kids, they can get well-paying jobs and that’s going to bring a lot of opportunities to inject positive energy back into the community.”

Chad Stender, director of operations at venture capital firm SeventySix Capital, is also coming back to Waterfront’s headquarters for a Camden Tech Meetup on June 28. He helped kick off Waterfront’s activities during its first conference and pitch competition last year, along with Saxbys CEO Nick Bayer and others.

“What they are trying to do is really hard, and it requires us to be patient, but you can really see in the last couple of years … the ecosystem is there,” Stender said, highlighting the 76er’s decision to locate its innovation center at its new Camden practice facility. He also noted Khai’s commitment to the cause. “He’s so passionate about education, meetups, networking. Those are all the tiny little elements that really start to move the needle.”

He compared Camden with West Philadelphia’s state 10 to 15 years ago, and said it could see the same kind of revitalization through the eds and meds sector. It's a crucial topic for the overall region as well, Stender continued.

“If Camden does better, Center City will do better. West Philly will do better. Northern Delaware will do better and the western suburbs will do better,” he said. “Everyone will do better.”

Another witness to Waterfront’s progress has been Red Queen CEO Alex Gilbert, who pitched his gaming startup at last year’s inaugural conference. The Cherry Hill, N.J. native said while Waterfront was still clearly in its nascent stages, the competition still offered key lessons.

“It really taught me something, which is that my pitch sucked at the time,” Gilbert said. “It provided that perspective.”

He’s also realistic about the realities surrounding Camden, but says Tran's work to build a framework for tech success is the right strategy – given the potential transformation the city could see in the next five to 10 years.

“They’ve continued to learn how to create relevant content, not trying to do too much and really focus more on smaller events. I think that’s going to work in their favor. You can tell they’re learning and you can tell they’re totally in it," Gilbert said.

A challenge moving forward, Gilbert added, is to continue excitement and momentum after press, attention and the newness of Waterfront’s efforts wane.

Tran said one of his largest hurdles in recruiting startups to Camden is mitigating and transforming its stigma — not an easy job for a city that is often deemed one of the dangerous cities in the country.

“Our biggest challenge is to get people to not look at Camden the way it is right now, but to Imagine and build something better, a better city," Tran said "It’s easy to look at that current picture and stick with that picture, but it’s harder to imagine a more beautiful picture, a more vibrant city.”

http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelp...-ventures.html

[domodeez]

From 6/16:













Added a floor on apartments phase 1 and garage, which is flush with street now, since previous update from 6/8 here

[Nomad9]

^ Looks Ike a pretty big complex. Should be great for DT Wilmington!

[Jawnadelphia]

2000 Pennsylvania Ave - near Union St.

The old shopping center/parking lot that were here have been demolished. Looks like the new luxury apartment building/retail is full steam ahead.

• Video Link

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^I like the looks of this project better than B/P Group's downtown Mid-Town apartment complex.


Incyte Pharma new building expansion - Augustine Cut Off
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[jsbrook]

Originally Posted by TallCoolOne

2000 Pennsylvania Ave - near Union St.

The old shopping center/parking lot that were here have been demolished. Looks like the new luxury apartment building/retail is full steam ahead.

This looks really great. Much nicer than any of Buccini Polin's Wilmington developments to date.

[SEFTA]

2000 Pennsylvania. Quite a handsome building. What a coup!

[domodeez]

Originally Posted by domodeez

Signs of progress...





From Thursday:

From the backside on Shipley Street today 6/20:

[summersm343]

Fast-fashion icon Zara to open at King of Prussia Mall

Capitalizing on the fast-fashion craze, King of Prussia Mall will open a Zara store next year.

Simon Group, owner of the mall, announced Tuesday that it plans to open a flagship 30,000-square-foot, two-level store.

The Spanish-based company joins Primark of Ireland and kids’ apparel retailer Orchestra of France as fast-fashion brands that have joined KOP Mall’s retail roster in the last 18 months.

Cherry Hill Mall will open a 26,000-square-foot Zara this fall.

That mall maximized existing space and built out an additional 5,000 square feet for the store, according to a spokeswoman for Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT), which owns Cherry Hill Mall.

Other mall changes announced by KOP Mall on Tuesday include the opening of a new flagship store for Foot Locker and the expansion of Vineyard Vines.

A KOP Mall spokeswoman said Foot Locker will relocate and expand into the former Uniqlo space, while Zara will occupy Foot Locker’s current location. Sephora, on the second level, will also move, to the space formally occupied by two restaurants next to Vineyard Vines. Vineyard Vines will expand into some of the adjacent space to its current location.

Read more here:
http://www.philly.com/philly/busines...-20170620.html

[summersm343]

Pa. awards 12 medical marijuana grower/processor permits

Two in the Philadelphia Region for now. Both in Berks County. One in Sinking Springs and one in Reading.

Read more here:
http://www.philly.com/philly/busines...-20170620.html

[summersm343]

A pattern in Atlantic City: growth in tourism industry

Here's some good news for Atlantic City: Sustained growth in its tourism industry is becoming a pattern, according to a new report.

Atlantic City and Atlantic County's lodging industry continued to grow through the first quarter of 2017 on multiple factors, according to the Atlantic City Tourism Performance Indicators report by Stockton University's Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality and Tourism.

Increases in multiple performance measures are important for the troubled Shore town, which must transform from a market that has historically relied on revenue from its casinos to a destination that relies on multiple streams of revenue.

The Atlantic County lodging fee on a per-room basis increased in 11 of 12 months, with gains between 6 percent and 12 percent over the past six months, according to the report.

This figure isn't Atlantic City specific, but the city's tourism market has a large impact on the county's hotel industry.

The twelve months ending March 2017 averaged $669, or 5.6 percent higher than the previous 12 months ending March 2016, representing the highest per room collection over a twelve month basis ever, the report reads.

The county lodging fee on a per-room basis is now higher than the $664 peak in March 2008. The fee previously peaked at $632 in 2007, a year after Pennsylvania gaming was introduced.

Atlantic City's non-gaming lodging properties are also seeing positive performances. Non-casino RevPAR continued to outperform the county's lodging and casino parking fees for the 12 months ended March 2017, according to the report.

Destinations like Philadelphia typically report the health of their respective hospitality industries on three factors provided by STR: lodging occupancy, average daily rate (ADR) and revenue per available room (RevPar).

Atlantic County reported positive increases for all three measures, each experiencing year-over-year gains in nine out of the 12 months.

The casino parking fee saw consistent, double-digit growth month-over-month in the first quarter, outpacing the county lodging fee and non-casino RevPAR for that period.

The closure of the Taj Mahal generated more traffic at the remaining casino properties, the report reads, with increases in October, November, December, January, February and March.

“The double-digit increases in both the casino-only parking fee and the non-casino-only RevPAR are a sign of the city’s resilience," said Rummy Pandit, executive director of the Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality and Tourism.

"Rather than declining in the wake of the closure of the Taj Mahal, both non-casino and casino hotels in Atlantic City showed growth," he said.

"When you find developers going into different areas in the country looking to buy hotels, they look for RevPAR growth," Pandit said.

Philadelphia, for example, continues to see increases in visitation as well as hotel occupancy, ADR and RevPAR. A slew of new hotels are slated to open, adding at least 2,000 new rooms by 2019.

Hotels in the pipeline are primarily aimed at the luxury end of the market, which includes boutique brands breaking into the Philadelphia market for the first time.

More supply leads to more heads-in-beds and, as a result, a larger economic impact.

Sustaining growth in Atlantic City relies on two things: weather and millennials, Pandit said.

"We have to have good weather," he said. "Because we're dependent on the weather, we need to look at additional market segments as we continue to evolve."

"The market has shrunk since the inception of gaming in other states along with New Jersey," Pandit said. " Our gaming revenue has dropped, but what has also happened is that we're bringing in new market segments."

One market includes the meeting and convention industry, which could diversify revenue streams for companies willing to add appropriate amenities.

Caesars Entertainment, for example, opened its $125.8 million Harrah's Waterfront Conference Center a year after a number of hotel rooms and meeting spaces left the Atlantic City market.

This has led in part to Atlantic City hitting record figures in 2016 for the meetings-and-conventions market.

"We looked at our markets changing as the millennial segment continues to grow," Pandit said. "You look at the properties in and around Atlantic City, they’re starting to add amenities and facilities to garner that segment of the market."

SugarHouse Casino in Fishtown, for example, added a new event space as well as more food and beverage offerings like Saxbys and Hugo's Frog Bar and Chop House. It also added its own beer garden, a growing and popular trend among millennials in Philadelphia.

A separate report by Stockton said Atlantic City's redevelopment could be incumbent on millennials, specifically those who choose to live there, rather than visit during the summer.

Many of the developments happening in Atlantic City "represent significant bets on millennials," according to the report, which cites Philadelphia developer Bart Blatstein's transformation of the former Showboat casino property into a non-casino, 852-room hotel; and the purchase of the Taj Mahal by Hard Rock International.

Millennials — those in the age bracket of mid-to-late teens to mid-to-late 30s — must become Atlantic City residents, because residency status would "firmly align their interests with Atlantic City's long-term economic development prospects," according to Stockton economics associate professor Oliver Cookie said.

Carl Icahn in March this year sold the Taj to a group led by Hard Rock International, which plans to spend over $500 million for an overhaul that includes updated guest rooms.

This would be a boon for Atlantic City.

"They’re not going to be necessarily getting the same customers existing casinos have," Pandit said. "They have their own following, and that will grow the entire pie for the city. When people come to the city to go to one resort, they will typically venture away from that also and explore other sites."

http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelp...upancy-up.html

[summersm343]

Atlantic City's Hard Rock Hotel & Casino eyes Memorial Day 2018 opening

Read more here:
http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelp...g-2018-md.html

[jonesrmj]

I went ahead and tried searching around for the latest new projects happening in Wilmington, and this image caught my eye:



I'm very confused. It shows the blueprint of a tower, but yet its the same lot as where the Residents at Midtown Park is being built at. Clicking on the link, it just says something about a Circulation Study. I just am very confused, so if someone could help me out with what this means, that would be great.

This is the link - https://www.wrallp.com/our-work/wilm...culation-study

[domodeez]

From 6/22:

Looking down the mid-block pedestrian connector that will extend through Chelsea Plaza, also under construction, and meet Market Street at the Grand Theatre:




Some context for this development in the cityscape:

[domodeez]

Originally Posted by domodeez

Earlier today 6/9:

From 6/21:

[domodeez]

$40M redevelopment of Wilmington's Galleria Shoppes underway

http://www.delawareonline.com/story/...way/420185001/

In the coming days, workers with GG+A Construction are slated to begin digging a 30-foot-deep parking garage on the site – the foundation of a new $40 million, five-story structure that will house shops and luxury apartments topped by a rooftop swimming pool and patio.

Construction is expected start heading skyward by fall and wrap in late 2018.

...

Plans now call for 166 residential units, including 91 one-bedroom and 75 two-bedroom apartments, along with 19,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor. The parking garage will contain two below-ground levels with 246 spaces residents can access from Pennsylvania Avenue and another 68 above ground.

...

"The residential investment in the city right now is terrific and that shows the confidence people have in the future of our city," Mayor Mike Purzycki said. "It also brings a variety of demographics, from retirees to young people to professionals."

...

Initially unveiled early last year, 2000 Pennsylvania Avenue is the first project Tsionas Management has undertaken in Wilmington. The company is best known for its redevelopment projects in Newark, where it has built at least eight mixed-use properties.

"I saw this part of Wilmington as already being a proven success between Trolley (Square) and Greenville," Tsionas said. "And we've found a lot of support from the city and the community."

...

Tsionas said she has been in talks with numerous restaurants, cafes and retailers interested in filling space at 2000 Pennsylvania Avenue, but no leases have been signed to date.

[domodeez]

Originally Posted by jonesrmj

I went ahead and tried searching around for the latest new projects happening in Wilmington, and this image caught my eye:

I'm very confused. It shows the blueprint of a tower, but yet its the same lot as where the Residents at Midtown Park is being built at. Clicking on the link, it just says something about a Circulation Study. I just am very confused, so if someone could help me out with what this means, that would be great.

This is the link - https://www.wrallp.com/our-work/wilm...culation-study

It's just an old conceptual massing model

[Knight Hospitaller]

Originally Posted by domodeez

From 6/21:

Has a PSFS vibe.

[wcphil]

Interesting proposal with a pocket park in downtown west Chester.
http://www.dailylocal.com/general-ne...eller-building