Please enjoy this week’s edition of Capstone Law’s Philadelphia Real Estate Trends:

• Comcast continues its robust growth in Center City, Philadelphia. Comcast seeks to secure an additional 65,000-75,000 square feet of office space near its John F. Kennedy Boulevard headquarters, which excludes any additional space it may need if its pending acquisition of Time Warner Cable is approved. Comcast’s growth creates tremendous opportunity for Philadelphia by showing the world that major corporations can do business, thrive, and attract great talent in Philadelphia. Comcast’s commitment to the city can potentially spur significant rent growth in Philadelphia’ long stagnant office space market.

• Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT) executed a 50/50 joint venture with California-based Macerich Company to redevelop the dilapidated Gallery Mall on Market Street. Although PREIT originally intended to secure a major department store chain such as Bloomingdale’s, PREIT and Macerich now intend to target “accessible luxury retailing”. Think tenants along the lines of Century 21 and MAC Cosmetics that both recently signed leases at the Gallery. While PREIT’s experience relies heavily on its significant portfolio of suburban malls, Macerich’s background includes developing and leasing retail space in dense urban environments such as in Brooklyn and Queens, New York.

• Sugarhouse Casino, Philadelphia’s (so far) only casino, plans to expand despite the significant media attention paid to the plethora of Atlantic City closings intent on closing. While acknowledging that the Northeast’s casino market already suffers from over-saturation, Sugarhouse plans to more than double its current square footage and significantly increase its gambling floor. Sugarhouse claims, however, that the expansion is more about “amenities” than gambling and as such, will include more restaurants.

As always, please check-out Capstone’s website and the “Llenrock Local”, for the latest news from Philadelphia’s busy commercial real estate sector.  

Until next time, have a great week!