Proposal: Whole Foods could anchor former Best Western site

A mixed-use development on a site where a Best Western hotel now operates comes before the Philadelphia Planning Commission at its regularly scheduled meeting tomorrow.

The proposal calls for 293 apartments and a 63,000-square-foot grocery store. A Whole Foods (NASDAQ:WFM) that operates a block away from the property is the likely anchor for that retail space.

The parcel at 501 N. 22^nd St. in the Art Museum area of Center City totals three acres. At one point a project called the Barnes Tower was planned for the property. It was later revived as Parkway 22, a 37-story building, but that also was never developed. Neal Rodin is the developer.

Brandywine Realty Trust (NYSE: BDN) proposed development at 1919 Market St. is also on the planner’s agenda. The Radnor, Pa., company has indicated it intends to break ground on the project, which will have 278 apartments and retail space, sometime this fall.

These two projects add to a growing list of apartment developments that have opened up, are under construction or in the pipeline in Philadelphia. More than 1,300 apartment units have been recently been delivered and another nearly 1,700 are under construction. Another roughly 3,000 apartments have been proposed.

Real Estate, Economic Development

Source: Philadelphia Business Journal