Gallery mall makeover plan almost a done deal

A PACKAGE OF legislation required to make the multi-million-dollar renovation of the Gallery mall a reality was passed by a City Council committee yesterday.

The entire Council is expected to approve the measures before recessing for the summer on June 18. A supportive Mayor Nutter is also expected to approve the development deal.

"I think this is going to provide shopping opportunities that have not existed in this city for a long time," Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Alan Greenberger said yesterday.

"You're going to see shops that run the gamut, from fairly high-end to pretty ordinary," he said.

"You're going to find more eating and drinking establishments. You're certainly going to find more places that open out onto the street that start to connect the Gallery with the life of the city in a more positive way."

The project's developers, the Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust and Macerich Co., will spend $325 million - in addition to $250 million already invested in the project - to transform the Center City shopping center into the Fashion Outlets of Philadelphia.

Winning tentative committee approval yesterday was a $55 million tax break, known as a TIF or tax increment financing, for the developers.

Also approved by the committee was a measure that requires the developers to pay their employees and employees of subcontractors - such as those who provide security, maintenance and janitorial services - a "living wage" of at least $12 an hour, said Council President Darrell Clarke.

While the living-wage requirement does not apply to employees of retail tenants, it is expected that some will pay their workers more than minimum wage, Greenberger said.

Another measure approved yesterday would give city residents the first opportunity for jobs at the renovated mall after being referred by the Department of Commerce, Clarke said, while another measure would allow kiosk vendors displaced by the renovations the right to relocate back into the new facility.

During construction, 14 of those vendors will be allowed to operate on the concourse of SEPTA's Jefferson Station, Greenberger said.

"This is one of the quietest, most momentous days in Philadelphia real estate history," Greenberger said. "We're not at final passage. You never want to presume that it's done, done. But this was a very, very important step today."