Ogontz Plaza, a neighborhood shopping center in the West
Oak Lane neighborhood of Philadelphia, has sold for $2.9 million.
City View Commercial of New York bought the
33,000-square-foot retail strip at 7101 Ogtonz Ave. The property has been a
mainstay in the community for decades and has symbolically served as a
barometer for its rise and decline.
Ogontz Avenue, one of the main commercial corridors in
Northwest Philadelphia, was going downhill during the 1970s. “By 1981, Ogontz
Plaza, the centerpiece of this once mighty block had become a vacant,
graffiti-scarred eyesore,” according to the Ogontz Avenue Revitalization Corp.,
or OARC.
The redevelopment of Ogontz Plaza planted the seeds for
OARC to organize.
State Sen. Dwight Evans was a newly elected state
representative when a resident asked him what he was going to do about the empty
center. Evans – who is currently challenging indicted U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah in
the primary race – helped form OARC in 1983 to team up with government
agencies, private developers, banks and others to fix up the property.
Legend Properties represented the owner, Haines Eastburn
Stenton Corp., in the transaction. City View, the buyer, was not represented
City View Commercial is affiliated with the Jimmy Jazz
retail chain, according to its website. It buys distressed retail assets.
Source: Philadelphia
Business Journal
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