PRINT THIS STORY:

CHANGE TEXT SIZE:

Philly to get entertainment complexes

By Jon Springer

PHILADELPHIA -- Separated by a mile of Christopher Columbus Boulevard and the foot of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, two developers are busy planning urban entertainment complexes here.

Both centers intend to deliver Philadelphia -- a city of nearly 1.6 million that, as of now, boasts few theme restaurants or clusters of entertainment-related retailers -- its first true urban entertainment district.

City planners hope for big things from the development of the historic Penn's Landing on Columbus between Walnut and Market Streets, and are in negotiation with Indianapolis-based Simon DeBartolo Group to develop a $100 million, 600,000-square-foot entertainment center there. One mile north, on Columbus between Callowhill and Spring Garden Streets, the New York-based investment firm Carl Marks & Co. has plans for a $60 million, 270,000-square-foot retail-entertainment complex called PhillyWalk.

Both developers plan to feature multiscreen movie theaters as anchors. Both hope to get construction under way within a year or so. And with one project being likened to Baltimore's Inner Harbor and the other to Chicago's Water Tower Place, experts agree the time is long overdue for a similar project in Philadelphia.

But whether both will happen as planned is debatable.

"It's very clear that Philadelphia -- the fourth-largest city in the country -- is woefully underserved by entertainment and themed retailers," said Michael H. Lawry, vice president of MRA International Inc., a Philadelphia-based company specializing in strategic planning for entertainment projects. "The city has traditionally resisted chain retailers and theme restaurants, partly because nobody could figure out where ground zero was."

The success of nightclubs along the Delaware River, north of the Ben Franklin Bridge -- most of them locally run businesses that started arriving here approximately eight years ago -- has proven that the waterfront is the place to be, Mr. Lawry said. Developers are now racing to cash in.

The as-yet-unnamed Simon project would be a major event at Penn's Landing, a publicly-owned parcel of land the city has tried for years to develop. This project, which would receive government subsidies for infrastructure and road improvements, could be the answer, city officials said.

"Over the last 20 years we've looked at a variety of proposals," said Jim Cuorato, executive vice president of Penn's Landing Corp., the city-appointed nonprofit agency that manages the land. "In the 1980s, we looked at huge master plans, which would have included mega office towers, hotels and more traditional retail."

None of these projects saw the light of day, mainly due to lack of financing, but that failure has turned out to be a blessing, Mr. Cuorato said.

"In retrospect, we were fortunate, because a family entertainment center is really the right use for Penn's Landing," he said. "We've always been trying to promote the theme of fun, excitement and entertainment for the area, and an office tower is just an office tower."

Legislation was introduced April 23 seeking approval of public funds to pay for some aspects of the development, including demolition of existing structures (mostly parking lots), intersection improvements, a parking garage and structural costs. Officials said a public hearing was set for May and that the legislation would be voted on this month.

"Once we can assure Simon DeBartolo that public improvements are in place, they expect they can be under construction by the end of this calendar year," Mr. Cuorato said.

The property on which Simon would build encompasses 13 acres at the northern end of Penn's Landing. According to Mr. Lawry, the project is part of a strategy to make Penn's Landing the center of a regional tourist destination that also would encompass the Camden, N.J., waterfront district on the east bank of the Delaware, and center city Philadelphia's historical attractions. Officials hope all this could draw two- and three-day visits from throughout the five-county Philadelphia region, as well as New Jersey, Delaware and regions west of the city.

"It would be like the Inner Harbor in Baltimore," Mr. Lawry said.

Though Simon had yet to release any details on tenants, Mr. Cuorato said AMC Theaters has shown interest in the project for a 24-screen theater. Other tenants mentioned as candidates include Niketown and FAO Schwarz.

Theme restaurants also will be part of the mix. So far, Philadelphia has few national names in themed restaurants, aside from Dave & Buster's, located further north on the waterfront, and a Hard Rock Cafe that recently opened near the new downtown Convention Center.

Simon also is at work developing a history-themed element for the project to reflect Philadelphia's main tourism draw. The amphitheater currently at the site, which hosts popular concerts run by the city, would be relocated to the top level of the project, Mr. Cuorato said.

Meanwhile, Waterfront Renaissance Associates, a Philadelphia affiliate of Carl Marks & Co., hopes to have its PhillyWalk project open by late 1999 -- at least a year ahead of the proposed Simon project. PhillyWalk is the first of a four-phase plan for the site, which will encompass 2.5 million square feet of commercial space. Future phases call for a 500-room hotel and for office buildings, one of which would be a World Trade Center.

"The long-term plan is to do [Chicago's] Water Tower Place or [Boston's] Copley Place, but do it piece by piece," said Marty Schiffman, managing director for Carl Marks.

PhillyWalk will be anchored by an 80,000-square-foot, 12-screen, 3,100-seat General Cinemas theater. The remaining space -- about 180,000 square feet -- will feature book and music stores, themed restaurants, nightclubs, sporting goods retailers and virtual reality game rooms, in a two-level, open plaza.

The project is being designed by Gensler & Associates, Santa Monica, Calif., and Alesker Reiff & Dundon Inc., Philadelphia. Blatteis Realty, Beverly Hills, Calif., is leasing the project, and Carl Marks is selecting a company to manage the center, Mr. Schiffman said.

Though the project's tenant mixes sound similar, Mr. Schiffman said PhillyWalk will be "funkier," without the civic elements or traditional retail tenants he expects in the Simon project.

"We're not going after the same tenants," he said. "While they're going to have a classic retail bent and a civic bent, we're going after purely entertainment tenants."

Both plan to have a multiscreen movie theater which -- combined with an existing, 17-screen multiplex south of Penn's Landing at a center called Riverview Plaza -- could put as many as 42 screens within a few miles.

"I don't know if the market is large enough to support all those screens," said Mr. Lawry.

Carl Marks & Co. assembled the 5.5 acres for the PhillyWalk project -- currently the site of a mini-storage facility -- in the late 1980s. The decision to develop the land now was spurred in part by the success of restaurant/nightclubs, including Dave & Buster's, Hooters, Rock Lobster, Katmandu, Egypt and the Baja Beach Club -- which arrived one by one in former port concerns north of the bridge. The clubs have been a tremendous success, particularly on summer evenings when they draw as many as 40,000 people to the area.

"We assembled the property as a land bank, and one of the objectives was to be patient. The mini-storage has financed that patience while the waterfront matured," Mr. Schiffman said. "When we bought the land it was good waterfront dirt but there wasn't a heck of lot happening. That's changed dramatically. The whole universe of clubs and restaurants have demonstrated they can provide the entertainment district that Philadelphia never had."