Penn, University Jewelers reach accord on lease

The parties were able to agree on key issues, such as if Penn could force the store to move. Ending weeks of tense negotiations, University Jewelers, a 62-year-old institution on Penn's campus, said yesterday that it will sign a lease for the former location of Metro Hair in the 3401 Walnut Street complex. The final lease represents a significant compromise by both sides from earlier versions. The last obstacle in the lease negotiations had been a clause allowing Penn to move the store again at any future point. University Jewelers had refused to accept the clause, calling it unusual and unfair. According to Fred Green, the owner of University Jewelers, the two sides have agreed to an initial two-year period during which the store will not be moved. After that time, Penn can relocate the store, but only to another location along Walnut Street between 34th and 38th streets. The store, currently located in The Book Store building on the 3700 block of Walnut Street, had been looking for a new location. The building will close in June, making way for a new Wharton School facility. Green, who has owned the store with his wife, Lois, since the original owner retired in 1985, said he was thrilled to be staying in University City. "We really like the students and the area," Green said. Tom Lussenhop, Penn's managing director for real estate, echoed the sentiment. "[University] Jewelers, with their longevity, terrific service and personality, are a great complement to the neighborhood," he said. University City Associates, Penn's for-profit real estate arm, delivered a new lease to University Jewelers last Thursday containing a revised version of the controversial clause. Penn had defended the original language as standard practice for smaller tenants. But several retailers in the 3401 Walnut complex said they had no such language in their lease. According to Green, University Jewelers agreed to Penn's demands on most other points, including the financial details and a clause dictating the hours the store must keep -- including evening and weekend hours -- because the Greens wanted to remain on campus. The requirement that stores keep certain hours is an important one for University City, Lussenhop said, because "you don't want dark stores." The longer hours also reflect Penn's commitment to making University City a destination at night and on weekends, Lussenhop added. University Jewelers will fill one of five vacancies in the 3401 complex. Metro Hair closed in late February when Penn declined to renew its lease. Penn remains in talks with the Gap over a possible expansion of its store into two neighboring spaces -- the previous location of Software Etc. and the current site of Foot Locker. Penn will not renew Foot Locker's lease when it expires in a few months. No plans have been announced to fill the former locations of Sam Goody and Bain's Deli, in the food court. Salad Creations will open in the former location of Everything Yogurt before the close of the semester. Penn has offered space to only one other merchant in The Book Store building, the Pennsylvania Book Center. But the two parties have yet to reach an agreement for a location on the 3900 block of Walnut Street.