No vacancy at two Philly malls (Update)
Goldenberg Group says it's rented every inch of its ParkWest and Whitman Square malls, totalling three-quarters of a million square feet in West and Northeast Philly.
Goldenberg Group, Blue Bell, says it has "100% leased" two Philadelphia neighborhood shopping malls: its two-year-old ParkWest Town Center, a 342,000-sq-ft complex at 52nd and Jefferson in West Philly; and Whitman Square Shopping Plaza, a 435,000-sq-ft complex at the old Whitman's Chocolates site, Grant Ave. and Roosevelt Blvd. in Northeast Philly. It's also filled the Metroplex mall in suburban Willow Grove, according to a statement by Goldenberg leasing chief Adam Rosenzweig.
ParkWest filled its last vacancy when Mercy Health Partners leased a 3,000 square foot clinic last month. Whitman filled a 35,000 sq ft hole left by bankrupt Circuit City with an HH Gregg electronics store, and its final vacancy with a Buffalo Wild Wings. Jewbilee took the last, 7,000 sq ft vacancy at Metroplex.
Parkwest is a $52 million, taxpayer-subsidized urban mall developed over the past decade by Goldenberg in partnership with the nonprofit West Philadelphia Nonprofit Financial Services Institution, with backing from city agencies, a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district, federal New Markets tax breaks, state brownfields grants and other state aid.
ALSO: Goldenberg says here's how it funded Parkside:
$14.5 million conventional loan from Wachovia (now Wells Fargo)
$ 1 million additional loan from Wachovia
$ 3.6 million in New Markets federal tax credits, via Wachovia
$ 6 million in tax increment financing from the City of Philadelphia
$ 2 million Brownfields grant from the federal government
$ 3.5 million "Business in our Sites" loan from the state
$ 2.3 million "Business in our Site" grant from the state
$ 750,000 Empowerment Zone (EZ) grant from the state (economic stimulus aid)
$ 7.5 million from Lowe's, as a contribution toward site work
"The balance was equity from The Goldenberg Group and the nonprofit" bank-supported "West Philadelphia Financial Services Institution"