Pa. gives $4 million to aid Wawa rival, fast food, hotel project
Ridley Square will host Microtel, Royal Farms, Wendy's
UPDATE: This Pennsylvania taxpayer-aided project will put a Baltimore-based Royal Farms gas station/convenience store, for the first time, in the Philadelphia area, just off I-95 a short drive from hometown favorite Wawa's Delaware County headquarters. Up until now, Royal had come no closer than Bear and Newark, Del., and York, Pa.
EARLIER: Developer Kathryn Rinnier's MGM Ridley Parking LP lined up Delaware County politicians this morning for a ground-breaking at Ridley Square, on Pa. 291 between Sellers and Stewart avenues at the site of a former wastewater treatment facility. (Rinnier family members also own the Drexeline supermarket which holds a state beer distributor's license.)
MGM has signed up a 78-room Microtel Inn & Suites by Wyndham, a Royal Farms gas station-convenience store, a Wendy's chain hamburger restaurant, and says it's offering"other development opportunities." Public subsidies include a $2.5 million Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) state matching grant, and a $1.25 million Infrastructure Development Program grant.
The first phase will cost $20 million + and create about 239 construction jobs -- site contractor is John J. Dougherty & Sons Inc. -- and then 156 store and hotel jobs once it's complete, which is scheduled for next May, according to Remington Group Inc., Wayne, owner's rep and project manager.
Joseph N. DiStefano | Columnist
Joseph N. DiStefano | Columnist
Joseph N. DiStefano | Columnist
Joseph N. DiStefano | Columnist
Joseph N. DiStefano | Columnist
Joseph N. DiStefano | Columnist
Joseph N. DiStefano | Columnist
Associated Press
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