Mayor Parker Taps CRE Bigwigs For Long-Anticipated Market East Revitalization Committee
Nearly a year after it was first announced, the committee Mayor Cherelle Parker formed to reimagine Market East following the Philadelphia 76ers’ pivot away from the neighborhood has gotten to work.
A Friday press conference following the committee’s inaugural Monday meeting included few details about plans for the city’s struggling historic commercial core, which remain in flux.
“I don’t want anyone leaving here today saying there is a plan that is baked … that it is a plan that will be shoved down the throat of Philadelphians,” Parker said.
But there is clarity about who is drafting the plan and how community members will be involved.
The city launched an online portal where the public can share comments and ideas about the revitalization process.
“No idea will be left behind,” Parker said.
Officials also debuted a list of the 62 people who constitute the committee helmed by Brandywine Realty Trust CEO Jerry Sweeney.
It includes Dranoff Properties founder Carl Dranoff, Macerich CEO Jackson Hsieh and TF Cornerstone Senior Vice President Jake Elghanayan. Keystone Development + Investment CEO Bill Glazer, Parkway Corp. CEO Robert Zuritsky and Allan Domb Real Estate’s namesake also made the roster.
The timeline for the revitalization process is fluid. Parker said there will be long-term and short-term goals, some of which are already in motion.
She cited the $16M of road work happening on Market Street in Old City, $1M of renovations the Pennsylvania Convention Center is carrying out along the corridor, and the $13M rehabilitation of the defunct Greyhound station on Filbert Street.
Work at the terminal set to be complete ahead of the FIFA World Cup and the nation’s 250th anniversary next year will be an “interim solution” for the city’s lack of a regional bus station, but Parker said it will lay the groundwork for something more permanent.
When asked why it took so long for the revitalization committee to convene, the mayor said she had been “laser-focused” on her HOME Initiative, which seeks to create and preserve 30,000 units of housing before the end of her first term.
“I haven't been known to give a knee-jerk reaction,” Parker said. “I consider myself a very meticulous planner.”
The committee also includes Comcast Chief Legal Officer Tom Reid, who is representing the conglomerate’s joint venture with Sixers parent company Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment.
The two firms purchased a series of buildings on East Market Street in June and are planning to demolish some of the structures, including the distinctive Robinson Building at 1020 Market St. Those sites will be used as temporary event spaces during next summer’s celebrations.
While Reid framed the demolitions as “turbocharging” the revitalization effort, the lack of firm plans for the site beyond 2026 was panned last month by community members who also bemoaned a lack of public input.
Philadelphia Director of Planning and Zoning Jessie Lawrence said residents will have the opportunity to share their thoughts going forward.
“They should stand by for the community component in our engagement,” he told Bisnow. “That is the opportunity and the forum for people to express those kinds of concerns.”
The Philadelphia Business Journal published the full list of 62 committee members.
