CVS to displace state liquor store, dry cleaner at Society Hill site

A CVS Pharmacy will take the place of a state liquor store, a dry cleaner, and other small shops in the retail building across Fifth Street from the Acme Markets store between Pine and Spruce Streets in Society Hill.

The drugstore chain will occupy the entire 7,600-square-foot structure at 314-26 S. Fifth St. starting in mid-2018, Leo Addimando, managing partner of building owner Alterra Property Group, said in an e-mail.

A CVS spokeswoman did not immediately respond to an email asking whether the pharmacy would retain its nearby location at 421 S. Second St. on Headhouse Square.

Addimando also said his company is "in late-stage negotiations" with Acme on a new long-term lease for it to remain at its space on the street.

Earlier this year, the supermarket site became an issue in a dispute between Alterra and the Society Hill Civic Association over a five-story, 65-unit residential building proposed for the property that the group had argued would be out of scale in the neighborhood.

Anti-density sentiment in the community led to passage in April of legislation exempting Society Hill from citywide rules allowing developers to exceed otherwise-permitted height and unit-count limits when their projects have "green" roofs and fresh grocers on their ground floors.