Urban mall nears completion

Haverford Senior High School '98 Havertown, Pa. That is the question University officials hope Penn students will be asking this fall, when Sansom Common -- the hotel and retail complex located on the 3600 block of Walnut Street -- finishes two years of construction with the opening of three new stores, the Inn at Penn and an upscale restaurant. Much of the $120 million complex opened last summer, when the Barnes & Noble-operated University Bookstore opened for business, along with the Xando coffee house and bar. Several other retail stores opened in the fall. The goal of the Sansom Common project is to create "a vibrant, round-the-clock, exciting destination" in University City, University President Judith Rodin said when she announced the project's construction plans in November 1996. The retail complex represents one piece of Rodin's efforts to enliven the University City area. The shopping complex's current list of tenants -- which includes the Urban Outfitters clothing store, Eastern Mountain Sports and Parfumerie Douglas -- have all enjoyed success, University and company officials have said. The complex will also soon include the 263-room, DoubleTree Hotels-operated Inn at Penn and the Ivy Grill and Bar, both scheduled to open by this fall. Steve Madden Shoes and Ma Jolie, a women's clothing store, will likely join the current list of stores in the fall, according to Tom Lussenhop, the University's top real estate official. A third retailer -- probably a gift shop or similar novelty shop -- will join the shoe and clothing stores to complete the complex's retail mix, Lussenhop said. A new restaurant operated by renowned Philadelphia restaurateur Stephen Starr is also slated to open in Sansom Common. Starr, a former concert promoter and nightclub operator who owns two highly successful and trendy Philadelphia restaurants, said in February that he believed the venue -- possibly an Italian restaurant or conveyor-belt sushi bar -- would be a hit. The new restaurant will complete the second phase of the Sansom Common project. University officials released preliminary floor plans for the Inn -- composed of 238 rooms and 25 suites -- earlier this year. The new hotel will also house the Faculty Club -- Penn's dining and social facility for faculty members -- currently located across the street in Skinner Hall at 36th and Walnut streets. The Inn will be a "major asset" for Penn faculty, visiting parents, participants at local conferences and others, Associate Vice President for Campus Services Larry Moneta said in February. All construction on the complex is scheduled to be completed by the end of 1999. The University Bookstore was relocated to Sansom Common after its former location, University Plaza, was slated for destruction to make way for Huntsman Hall, a new Wharton School facility scheduled for completion in 2002. In addition to a new cafZ and added floor space -- more than double the size of the former Locust Walk location -- the new bookstore boasts longer hours, staying open as late as 11 p.m. during the week and midnight on weekends.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.