Cool Peppers leaves 40th Street location

Cool Peppers Mexican Grill, a fast-food Mexican restaurant on 40th Street, went out of business earlier this month and will likely be replaced by a clothing store or restaurant, according to University officials. John Greenwood, director of University City Associates -- the for-profit arm of the University that manages its retail properties -- said the 3-year-old restaurant closed around New Year's because it was not "doing the business that they had hoped." Greenwood said Cool Peppers failed "across the board," closing its two other Philadelphia restaurants in addition to the one in the Hamilton Village shopping center at 40th and Walnut streets. "Cool Peppers was in trouble for a long time," he added. The University City location was probably the last to close, Greenwood said, and had stayed open this long only because the University urged it to do so. Though the lease for the retail space had not yet expired at the time of its closing, Greenwood said that the University was "very willing to take that space back" because of the upcoming construction of a movie theater, parking garage and a food market on 40th Street intended to revitalize the campus' western boundary. Greenwood added that a "more appropriate" retailer would be put into the vacant space. The University is currently negotiating with several retailers, and a restaurant or apparel store is likely to fill the old Cool Peppers location, probably leasing the space within the next few months, Greenwood said. He declined to name the specific businesses involved. Greenwood called the option to release the space a "tremendous opportunity," and said that the University hoped to "improve the merchandising mix" in the 40th Street corridor. Several other locations in the shopping center currently do not have operating tenants. Greenwood said the spaces are being renovated in preparation for the scheduled start of construction this April on an art house movie theater. The project was announced last October by University officials and movie mogul Robert Redford, whose Sundance Cinemas will be a co-owner of the facility with General Cinemas. The 50,000-square foot complex -- scheduled to open in early 2000 -- will house eight screens, primarily for showing independent films, as well as community space, cafes, gardens and a restaurant. The space currently occupied by Burger King, which operates at the corner of 40th and Walnut, will also be occupied by the theater complex. According to Greenwood, Burger King is interested in finding a new location in University City and has been "in touch with the University." However, no arrangements have been made yet to relocate the fast food restaurant in a University-owned space, he said. This will be the second Burger King franchise on campus to be removed from its location in less than a year. The store in Houston Hall was closed down for the ongoing construction of the Perelman Quadrangle and is not expected to return.