CVS closes in on move to Moravian Cafes

CVS has submitted a letter of intent detailing its plans to move to 3401 Walnut St., occupying exactly half of the 15,000-square-foot-area known as Moravian Cafes. The final points of the lease are still being modified, however.

"We've done a lot of research and the research told us that the eastern edge of the campus could really use a pharmacy. They could really use a convenience store like a CVS," Facilities and Real Estate Services spokesman Tony Sorrentino said.

The other 7,500 square feet will be leased by Famous Famiglia Pizza and Gourmet Ice Cream and Yogurt -- the only two remaining food vendors -- in addition to three other tenants that have not yet been determined.

Both stores, however, will be temporarily closed until Jan. 17 as construction commences on remodeling the food court.

In addition, the existing CVS at 3923 Walnut St. will remain open after the new CVS comes to this location, which CVS pharmacist Kevin Leung feels will be beneficial to the greater community. "We're very busy and every year it seems like we're getting busier and busier," he said, pointing out that not only would Penn students benefit from the new CVS, but customers walking from Drexel University would as well.

Although School of Arts and Sciences graduate student Ailin Qian lives close to the 39th Street location, she feels the advantage of the new location is its proximity to a Penn bus stop. At the current CVS location, a customer must walk to Freshgrocer to find a bus stop.

Some students feel that the addition of another CVS near campus is unnecessary.

"There's other things that are needed rather than a duplicate of what we already have," Nursing sophomore Morgan Greenhouse said.

Greenhouse, who had to walk to the current CVS location from her dorm room in the Quadrangle last year, said, "For freshmen living in Hill and the Quad, [adding the new CVS] might be advantageous, but generally I think they should use the place for more eating facilities, because I think that's what most undergrads want."

Many students and faculty look forward to the revitalization of the food court, which they say provided some of the most reasonably priced food options on campus.

"One thing that we have a problem with on campus are affordable lunch places," Wharton Real Estate professor Georgette Poindexter said. "We lost an important cheap place to have lunch" when six food vendors closed their businesses at the end of the past year in the Moravian Cafes.

Sorrentino, however, feels that the University has done a good job providing a variety of food options around campus, some pricier than others.

"There's a variety of price points on campus and the food court is on the lower end of the price points," he said.

Sorrentino also pointed out that for those concerned about prices, the University maintains five fresh air food plazas that provide facilities and services to private food truck vendors.

The University also continues to study possible uses for the postal lands, a vacant 15-acre area it owns on the east side of campus.

"We envision a mixture of uses in there ... being academic uses, playing fields and maybe residential units for students and non-students and perhaps retail," Sorrentino said. "The postal lands are prime opportunity for us to ... grow the campus without growing into any neighborhoods or disrupting any urban fabric."

The University's ultimate plans for the postal lands remain unpredictable due to the versatile nature of the location, according to Poindexter.

"Part of visionary planning is being able to identify property that potentially could have a number of uses. The University saw an opportunity and seized it," she said.

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