U. likely to get big chunks of Civic Center

A City Council ordinance introduced yesterday would let Penn develop a site it has sought for years. In an unexpected announcement with huge implications for area health institutions, City Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell introduced a proposal yesterday to turn most of the massive, city-owned Philadelphia Civic Center over to Penn and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia for the creation of a world-class cancer-research and -treatment center. Under the terms of the bill -- which could be passed by Council by the end of the year -- Penn and CHOP will jointly develop 10.7 acres of the 19.2-acre site into research laboratories, patient-treatment facilities, office space, three large parking garages and commercial venues. Developing the property will cost an estimated $450 million, most of which will come from Penn. The project will be completed under the auspices of the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp., a 40-year-old non-profit corporation created jointly by the city and the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. Penn officials had long salivated over the enormous property on the southeastern edge of campus. City officials, though, rejected all of the University's offers to buy the site, making yesterday's announcement of the deal --Eduring an open committee meeting of the University Board of Trustees --Eall the more surprising. The announcement was greeted with cautious optimism that the deal would be approved by Council without significant opposition. Although Council will still have the opportunity to amend the legislation, Penn officials said they are glad that the property issue is finally being debated. "For a long period of time, people have been trying to figure out what to do with the Civic Center site," Penn Executive Vice President John Fry said. "There is no better use of this property than providing medical care by both Penn and CHOP." The Civic Center site --Ewhich contains two large exhibition halls and an underground parking structure -- has recently hosted events like the Philadelphia Flower Show and this year's DinoFest. The proposal calls for developing a total of about 1.3 million square feet for the research, treatment and office space. The three parking garages, two of which will be above ground, will provide a total of 3,600 parking spaces over an additional 750,000 square feet. Penn Health System spokesperson Lori Doyle said that construction on the parking garages could begin as soon as January or February, assuming passage of the bill by the end of the year. The other buildings in the Civic Center complex -- including the Museum Building, Convention Hall and Pennsylvania Hall -- will stay under city ownership. The Convention Hall, site of the 1948 Democratic and Republican national conventions, is currently being used as a sound stage for The Sixth Sense, an upcoming film starring Bruce Willis. Doyle said the plans to create a freestanding cancer center on the site are necessary to consolidate existing cancer research and treatment areas which are currently "scattered throughout a number of buildings" across the Medical Center. None of the funding for the facility will come from last December's $100 million gift from health-care tycoon Leonard Abramson and his wife Madlyn. Penn is not facing shortages of research and treatment space, Doyle added, although she said the Health System has been suffering from a shortage of parking spaces for its employees and patients. The new buildings are intended to enable the University to expand its patient-care facilities, she said. Fry emphasized that the plan is part of a larger strategy for Health System expansion that could one day call for the use of more of the Civic Center site. "There's a huge demand for what they provide in terms of additional services," he said. "My own instinct is that they're more pressed for patient care [spaces]." The estimated costs of the project are staggering. Information provided by the office of Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell indicates that developing the site could cost $450 million, the majority of which would be financed by Penn. There are no plans for the use of any city funds, Blackwell said, though the PIDC has agreed to apply for $2 million in state and federal funding to cover utility relocation costs. Fry cautioned, however, that speculation about the final costs of the project and how it will be funded are "premature." The University will also be responsible for demolishing the site's existing buildings, Exhibition Hall and Center Hall, and its underground parking garage -- at a cost of more than $15 million -- although it will be able to buy its portion of the land from the city for $1. CHOP will pay the city nearly $3 million for its share of the site and will contribute $100 million toward its development. That is, of course, if the bill gets past City Council. Blackwell -- whose district includes University City -- said that the legislative process, including public hearings, could take about 1 1/2 months. But administrators don't see any problems impeding the ordinance's progress, such as those that hampered the University-backed vending ordinance that was approved in April. "We don't foresee any roadblocks and we are hopeful that this could be completed by December," Doyle said, adding that demolition and construction could begin soon afterward. Blackwell said that her colleagues on Council have reacted positively to the plan. "People seemed pleased about the opportunity to have a great research center, the best in the country, in West Philadelphia," she said. "They were glad to hear it was happening." Fry said the plan -- which will not affect the Convention Hall or Museum Building, both of which have historical value -- has no apparent drawbacks and is only the first step in the city's process of deciding what to do with the location. "The beauty of the way this is being done is that it doesn't force anyone's hand," he said, emphasizing the incremental nature of the development proposal. "I think it's going to be a very long term project in terms of the final utilization of the Civic Center site." The benefit for the two involved health care institutions and the city is significant. Penn and CHOP will finally get to take control of land near their main facilities onto which, Doyle said, the University has been interested in expanding for years. The city will benefit financially, with $40 million in revenue from the transfer of the land to Penn and CHOP and Penn's payment of demolition fees, and $4 million in annual wage tax revenue resulting from the 2,250 permanent jobs expected to be created by the new facility. But the value of the new facility goes beyond revenue, Blackwell said. "I think it will bring a needed service," she said. "It's an improvement all of us can use." The negotiations between Penn and the city over the future of the Civic Center lands have been tumultuous at their best and downright contentious at their worst over the last decade. Robert Zemsky, then the University's chief planning officer, announced in 1991 that Penn had an interest in acquiring the Civic Center's land for Health System expansion. But the University's plans were rebuffed the next year by Rendell, who said in early 1992 that the city had no plans to sell the land. After announcing plans for the city's new Convention Center in downtown Philadelphia, Rendell reversed course, expressing the city's intent to sell the entire block. The center's financial difficulties -- it lost $6 million in the 1991 fiscal year -- also contributed to the mayor's willingness to part with the historic parcel, which in its 94-year history has hosted everything from the Metropolitan Opera to the 1984 vice presidential debate. Price remained a stumbling block between Penn and the property's owners, University officials confirmed, and negotiations slowed to a halt by the fall of 1995, despite the Civic Center's closure that summer. Now, at least a portion of the West Philadelphia landmark seems destined to come under the control of Penn and its neighbor, CHOP. "Over the course of the last several months, the University and CHOP have been in discussions? to develop an appropriate reuse plan," Doyle said. "It really is an ideal site for both institutions." Daily Pennsylvanian staff writers Naomi Blivaiss and Seth Grossman contributed to this article.