Panera opening at Presidential City

There's a tenant on the way to fill the long-empty restaurant space at Presidential City apartments on City Avenue in Wynnefield, where it meets the Schuylkill Expressway.

Panera Bread.

It's due to open in the spring after a considerable build-out. The thousand-unit apartment complex is getting new attention.

The restaurant space has seen assorted occupants over the years, most recently Franco's Osteria, after O'Hara's Fish House and City Grill.

(Personal note here: Back in 1957, when Williamson's was the hotspot restaurant there, my parents ran the lunch counter at the drugstore that was next door.)