‘I think it’ll hurt business’: Philadelphia restaurant owners react to new vaccine mandate for indoor dining

Philadelphia restaurant owners are trying to determine how the new citywide Covid-19 vaccination mandate for indoor dining will impact operations after local officials announced the policy on Monday morning.   

For months, Philadelphia eateries could choose either checking guest vaccination cards or requiring masks when not eating or drinking. But starting Jan. 3, local restaurants must require that customers dining indoors provide proof of vaccination, like in other cities including San Francisco and New York. 

Business owners are meeting this latest Covid-19 mandate for restaurants with mixed reactions. 

Human Robot Brewing in Olde Kensington has already been checking vaccination cards, so not much will change for operations, said Co-Owner Jake Atkinson. Still, he hopes the formal announcement will provide customers with clarity and help ward off arguments. 

Many guests have been confused by the mask-or-vaccine policy differing from restaurant to restaurant, he added, with people not understanding why they must wear a mask in one establishment and not another. A lot of visitors to the Kensington brewery come from out of town, including New Jersey and the suburbs, and are unfamiliar with the Philadelphia rules, Atkinson noted. Some vaccinated people also don’t bring proof with them. 

*Article courtesy of Philadelphia Business Journal

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Wolf Commercial Real Estate, a full-service CORFAC International brokerage, and advisory firm, is a premier Philadelphia commercial real estate broker that provides a full range of Philadelphia commercial real estate listings and services, property management services, and marketing commercial offices, medical properties, industrial properties, land properties, retail buildings and other Philadelphia commercial properties for buyers, tenants, investors, and sellers.

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Twin Peaks bringing its lodge-style sports bars to Philly region

The Philadelphia region will see a wave of new sports bars in the coming years as Twin Peaks, a lodge-style restaurant with wall-to-wall TVs and an all-female waitstaff, embarks on its first expansion to the Northeast.

Known for its rugged atmosphere and savory, made-from-scratch menu, Twin Peaks was founded in the Dallas suburbs in 2005 and has expanded to include 85 locations across the country. Now, the company plans to open 10 locations in Philadelphia and the surrounding areas.

*Article courtesy of Philly Voice

For more information about Philadelphia retail space for sale or lease in Philadelphia or about any other Philadelphia properties for sale or lease, please contact WCRE at 215-799-6900.

Wolf Commercial Real Estate, a full-service CORFAC International brokerage, and advisory firm, is a premier Philadelphia commercial real estate broker that provides a full range of Philadelphia commercial real estate listings and services, property management services, and marketing commercial offices, medical properties, industrial properties, land properties, retail buildings and other Philadelphia commercial properties for buyers, tenants, investors, and sellers.

Please visit our websites for a full listing of Philadelphia commercial properties for lease or sale through our Philadelphia commercial real estate brokerage firm.

International investor pays $52M for Penrose Plaza in South Philadelphia

United Hampshire U.S. Real Estate Investment Trust, a Singaporean real estate firm that invests in grocery-anchored retail centers, paid $52 million for Penrose Plaza, a 258,494-square-foot property in South Philadelphia. 

The sale of Penrose Plaza joins other recently traded grocery-anchored shopping centers. For example, Red Lion Plaza, a roughly 240,000-square-foot shopping center at Red Lion Road and Roosevelt Boulevard in Northeast Philadelphia, sold earlier this month for $56.45 million. Earlier this year, Blackstone, a New York investment firm, paid $78 million for Northeast Tower Center, a 301,208-square-foot retail property at 4640 Roosevelt Blvd. in Northeast Philadelphia.

The transactions continue to underscore the demand for well-located, grocery-anchored retail centers located in markets with high barriers to entry. The investment appetite for these properties was on the rise before the pandemic and has gone unabated since. 

*Article courtesy of Philadelphia Business Journal

For more information about Philadelphia retail space for sale or lease in Philadelphia or about any other Philadelphia properties for sale or lease, please contact WCRE at 215-799-6900.

Wolf Commercial Real Estate, a full-service CORFAC International brokerage, and advisory firm, is a premier Philadelphia commercial real estate broker that provides a full range of Philadelphia commercial real estate listings and services, property management services, and marketing commercial offices, medical properties, industrial properties, land properties, retail buildings and other Philadelphia commercial properties for buyers, tenants, investors, and sellers.

Please visit our websites for a full listing of Philadelphia commercial properties for lease or sale through our Philadelphia commercial real estate brokerage firm.

Another indoor golf venue is planning to open on Fishtown, Olde Kensington border

A Dallas-based leisure and entertainment business operator is bringing an expansive golf concept to the rapidly developing area along the border of Philadelphia’s Fishtown and Olde Kensington neighborhoods. 

Drive Shack Inc. (NYSE: DS), whose portfolio consists of entertainment concepts American Golf, Drive Shack and Puttery, is planning a 20,000-square-foot venue at 1400 N. Howard St., a property that spans more than 78,000 square feet in total and takes up an entire city block. 

Puttery Philadelphia will boast three themed, nine-hole putting courses and multiple bars, according to Drive Shack Inc. The concept will also serve up a chef-driven food menu and a cocktail program. 

The city’s Fishtown area was “an obvious choice” for the Texas company as it looked into potential new markets for expansion, said Hana Khouri, CEO at Drive Shack Inc. 

*Article courtesy of Philadelphia Business Journal

For more information about Philadelphia retail space for sale or lease in Philadelphia or about any other Philadelphia properties for sale or lease, please contact WCRE at 215-799-6900.

Wolf Commercial Real Estate, a full-service CORFAC International brokerage, and advisory firm, is a premier Philadelphia commercial real estate broker that provides a full range of Philadelphia commercial real estate listings and services, property management services, and marketing commercial offices, medical properties, industrial properties, land properties, retail buildings and other Philadelphia commercial properties for buyers, tenants, investors, and sellers.

Please visit our websites for a full listing of Philadelphia commercial properties for lease or sale through our Philadelphia commercial real estate brokerage firm.

Barstool Sports will open a sports bar in Center City Philadelphia, and this is the likely location

Barstool Sports, the digital media company founded by David Portnoy and backed by Wyomissing-based Penn National Gaming, announced on Instagram Thursday that “ground has been broken” on a Philadelphia sports bar that would open soon.

This Barstool Sports Bar — much like Bankroll Club, a sports bar now under construction on the site of the Boyd Theater in Rittenhouse — will be an immersive experience at the confluence of media, sports, and gambling. Such next-generation sports bars will not be betting parlors and thus do not require gaming licenses, as would a sportsbook with kiosks at a casino. The bars provide an atmosphere, including food, drinks, TVs, and advertising, aimed at younger demographics. The Barstool venue will promote its popular mobile sports-betting app, available in 11 states; the company said in 2020 it has upward of 66 million active monthly users.

Although Penn National chief executive Jay Snowden announced in August that Barstool would open branded sports bars in Philadelphia and Chicago, the location has been kept under wraps. Attempts to reach representatives of Barstool and Penn National about the project have not been successful.

*Article courtesy of The Inquirer

For more information about Philadelphia retail space for sale or lease in Philadelphia or about any other Philadelphia properties for sale or lease, please contact WCRE at 215-799-6900.

Wolf Commercial Real Estate, a full-service CORFAC International brokerage, and advisory firm, is a premier Philadelphia commercial real estate broker that provides a full range of Philadelphia commercial real estate listings and services, property management services, and marketing commercial offices, medical properties, industrial properties, land properties, retail buildings and other Philadelphia commercial properties for buyers, tenants, investors, and sellers.

Please visit our websites for a full listing of Philadelphia commercial properties for lease or sale through our Philadelphia commercial real estate brokerage firm.

Montgomery Mall sells for $55M in a foreclosure sale

Kohan Retail Investment Group of Great Neck, New York, has purchased Montgomery Mall in a foreclosure sale for $55 million. 

The sale price is 95% of the property’s appraised value as of August of $57.5 million. In 2014, the mall had been appraised at $195 million, or $176 a square foot.

A Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas judge signed an order approving the sale to Montgomery Mall Realty Holdings, which is the entity Kohan used to to purchase the 1.1-million-square-foot property located in North Wales.

The property fits into Kohan’s retail focus. In addition to two hotels in New York City, Kohan owns a portfolio of 50 similar second-tier malls across the country including several in Pennsylvania such as Wyoming Valley Mall, Washington Crown Center and Lycoming Mall. 

The sale brings to a close a saga overshadowing the regional mall that began in August 2020 when a $100 million loan backed by the property was nearing default. By last November, an entity affiliated with Simon Property Group, which owned the mall, notified the special servicer overseeing that loan that it was “unwilling to inject additional funds into [the] loan, but is willing to manage [the] property,” according to a monthly report that tracks CMBS loans.

*Article courtesy of Philadelphia Business Journal

For more information about Philadelphia retail space for sale or lease in Philadelphia or about any other Philadelphia properties for sale or lease, please contact WCRE at 215-799-6900.

Wolf Commercial Real Estate, a full-service CORFAC International brokerage, and advisory firm, is a premier Philadelphia commercial real estate broker that provides a full range of Philadelphia commercial real estate listings and services, property management services, and marketing commercial offices, medical properties, industrial properties, land properties, retail buildings and other Philadelphia commercial properties for buyers, tenants, investors, and sellers.

Please visit our websites for a full listing of Philadelphia commercial properties for lease or sale through our Philadelphia commercial real estate brokerage firm.

Giant scheduled to open three stores — two in Philadelphia — in December

A new 32,000-square-foot Heirloom Market at 801 Market St. in Philadelphia is one of three stores Giant Co. is scheduled to open in the region in December. 

It will join a new store at 1403 S. Christopher Columbus Blvd. in Philadelphia, and a new location in Doylestown, and combined, the three will employ nearly 500 people. Last week, Giant held a grand opening for a store on Cottman Avenue in Northeast Philadelphia where the company said it employs 150 people. 

These new stores are part of an effort by Giant, an Ahold Delhaize USA brand, to gain market share in the region and bolster sales. Part of the strategy is to increase online sales and, to that end, Giant opened earlier this month a 124,000-square-foot automated fulfillment center on Island Avenue in Philadelphia to fill online orders. 

Giant has five stores in Philadelphia between its Giant and Heirloom brands. It has announced two more stores that will eventually open in the city — a 50,000-square-foot store on North Broad Street at the corner of Spring Garden Street, and a 40,000-square-foot store at Tower Investment’s project at South Broad Street at the corner of Washington Avenue. It remains committed to opening at Abbotts Square.

*Article courtesy of Philadelphia Business Journal

For more information about Philadelphia retail space for sale or lease in Philadelphia or about any other Philadelphia properties for sale or lease, please contact WCRE at 215-799-6900.

Wolf Commercial Real Estate, a full-service CORFAC International brokerage, and advisory firm, is a premier Philadelphia commercial real estate broker that provides a full range of Philadelphia commercial real estate listings and services, property management services, and marketing commercial offices, medical properties, industrial properties, land properties, retail buildings and other Philadelphia commercial properties for buyers, tenants, investors, and sellers.

Please visit our websites for a full listing of Philadelphia commercial properties for lease or sale through our Philadelphia commercial real estate brokerage firm.

Red Lion Plaza in Northeast Philadelphia sells for $56M to New York investor

Red Lion Plaza, a roughly 240,000-square-foot shopping center at Red Lion Road and Roosevelt Boulevard in Northeast Philadelphia, has been sold for $56.45 million. 

Finmarc Management Inc. and KPR sold the center. The buyer was affiliated with the Propp family from New York. The center at 9950 Roosevelt Blvd. was 97% occupied at the time of the sale. 

The Finmarc-KPR venture bought Red Lion Plaza in 2013 for roughly $32 million. At the time, it was smaller at 229,204 square feet and 95% occupied with such retailers as Best Buy, Staples and Planet Fitness, which remain tenants. 

The center, built in 1962, underwent several upgrades during the Finmarc ownership and new tenants were brought in. Burlington and Ross Dress for Less were added in late 2019 and early 2020, and a national grocery believed to be Amazon Fresh has signed on to lease a 43,825-square-foot store once occupied by Raymour & Flanigan. It is expected to open next year. 

Two new pad sites were also developed that created nearly 20,000 square feet of additional space now leased to Aspen Dental, Mattress Firm, Panera Bread and Tropical Smoothie Café. 

*Article courtesy of Philadelphia Business Journal

For more information about Philadelphia retail space for sale or lease in Philadelphia or about any other Philadelphia properties for sale or lease, please contact WCRE at 215-799-6900.

Wolf Commercial Real Estate, a full-service CORFAC International brokerage, and advisory firm, is a premier Philadelphia commercial real estate broker that provides a full range of Philadelphia commercial real estate listings and services, property management services, and marketing commercial offices, medical properties, industrial properties, land properties, retail buildings and other Philadelphia commercial properties for buyers, tenants, investors, and sellers.

Please visit our websites for a full listing of Philadelphia commercial properties for lease or sale through our Philadelphia commercial real estate brokerage firm.

Amazon Fresh appears headed to Northeast Philadelphia, documents show

Amazon Fresh Bucks County

An application by Amazon Retail LLC for a Pennsylvania liquor license to be used at a space at Red Lion Plaza in Northeast Philadelphia points to a new Amazon Fresh grocery store opening in the retail center.

In addition, a leasing brochure marketing vacant spaces in the center shows that a 43,825-square-foot store once occupied by Raymour & Flannigan has been leased to a “national grocer” at the 9950 Roosevelt Blvd. property. The brochure shows the space as under construction and slated to open this year. 

An Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) spokeswoman declined to comment about the Roosevelt Boulevard location. 

Red Lion Plaza sits at the intersection of Red Lion Road and Roosevelt Boulevard and is in an area that has more than a dozen nearby grocery stores including Acme, Giant, Aldi, ShopRite and Lidl. Giant is opening on Nov. 12 a new 67,000-square-foot store at 2201 Cottman Ave., which is a tad less than five miles away from Red Lion Plaza. 

*Article courtesy of Philadelphia Business Journal

For more information about Philadelphia retail space for sale or lease in Philadelphia or about any other Philadelphia properties for sale or lease, please contact WCRE at 215-799-6900.

Wolf Commercial Real Estate, a full-service CORFAC International brokerage, and advisory firm, is a premier Philadelphia commercial real estate broker that provides a full range of Philadelphia commercial real estate listings and services, property management services, and marketing commercial offices, medical properties, industrial properties, land properties, retail buildings and other Philadelphia commercial properties for buyers, tenants, investors, and sellers.

Please visit our websites for a full listing of Philadelphia commercial properties for lease or sale through our Philadelphia commercial real estate brokerage firm.

Sugar Factory chain to open Philadelphia restaurant with ‘insane milkshakes,’ celebrity-designed cocktails

Las Vegas restaurant chain Sugar Factory American Brasserie is taking over the former Porta space in Center City. 

Sugar Factory is known for over-the-top offerings like sliders with rainbow buns; “insane milkshakes” served in chocolate-covered mugs and decked out with sweets like candy necklaces, candy bars and cookies; and a 24-scoop King Kong Sundae topped with marshmallows, a glazed donut, a red velvet cupcake and more for $99. 

The 1216 Chestnut St. restaurant will open on Dec. 1 and is currently accepting reservations, according to the brand’s website. Sugar Factory did not respond to a request for comment. 

The 1216 Chestnut St. lot spans 6,110 square feet, according to Philadelphia property records. When the location was home to Porta, a pizza concept by Smith restaurant group, it connected with sister concept Brickwall Tavern to occupy more than 20,000 square feet at 1214-16 Chestnut St. Both concepts shuttered last year during the depths of the Covid-19 pandemic.

*Article courtesy of Philadelphia Business Journal

For more information about Philadelphia retail space for sale or lease in Philadelphia or about any other Philadelphia properties for sale or lease, please contact WCRE at 215-799-6900.

Wolf Commercial Real Estate, a full-service CORFAC International brokerage, and advisory firm, is a premier Philadelphia commercial real estate broker that provides a full range of Philadelphia commercial real estate listings and services, property management services, and marketing commercial offices, medical properties, industrial properties, land properties, retail buildings and other Philadelphia commercial properties for buyers, tenants, investors, and sellers.

Please visit our websites for a full listing of Philadelphia commercial properties for lease or sale through our Philadelphia commercial real estate brokerage firm.