Final talks for postal lands underway

After a more than 20-year wait, the University is in the final stages of a massive eastward expansion.

Penn is in the final contract negotiation stage of discussions with Postal Service officials over the sale of postal lands that stretch from 30th and Market streets to the Schuylkill River.

With Drexel University to the north, biomedical and health care facilities to the south and a vow to the local community not to expand to the west, the postal lands have been Penn's greatest hope for growth.

The University has been eyeing the lands owned by the Postal Service for more than 20 years, but the recent decision to move ahead with the relocation of the postal facility to a new southwest Philadelphia home has provided a window for negotiations to move forward.

"Ultimately, it was always thought to be where Penn would have a place to grow," University President Judith Rodin said.

Acquiring this land -- a total of 24 acres -- would ensure the University's ability to expand eastward -- the only direction that remains available.

Rodin called the property -- which would not be officially acquired until 2007 -- a "critical place of West Philadelphia."

However, even once the University owns the property, Penn has agreed to lease back a significant portion of the land to the Postal Service for 10 years, according to Vice President for Facilities and Real Estate Omar Blaik.

As a result, the majority of construction would not begin until 2017, but the University would begin developing the land south of Walnut Street into athletic fields in 2007, Blaik said.

He stressed that the project would be very long-term.

"The vision is [that] you will be able to bring your kids here when you are in your 40s and 50s and show them what used to be an industrial wasteland and is now an integral neighborhood between Center City and West Philadelphia that has businesses... hotels, shopping," he said.

In June, Penn's Board of Trustees approved $50.6 million toward the purchase of the property. The University is partnering with Amtrak, Drexel University, the Schuylkill River Development Corporation and the University City District in the endeavor.

Despite the seemingly hefty price tag, Rodin said the purchase will ultimately save the University between $6 and $9 million per year -- because Penn will no longer have to rent space for many of its projects.

"Penn has a master plan for future expansion of the University's activities, especially in the area of research," said James Cuorato, member of the Schuylkill River Development Corporation and City Commerce Director.

Rodin said the land would be used to expand academic facilities -- particularly for biotechnological research.

She also said that the University would consider looking for a tenant to rent the middle building on the postal lands.

Developing this land would provide a long-awaited connection between West Philadelphia and Center City, increasing the appeal and accessibility of University City.

"The post office is really the linchpin for linking Center City and... West Philadelphia," Cuorato said.

"That's the east-west connection," he continued. "There's also a north-south connection." The area "literally is right there at the crossroads and would impact development" in both directions.

"What I think is going to happen is it's going to become a mixed-use area over time" including residential, commercial and academic components, Executive Director of the University City District Eric Goldstein said.

"The primary commercial development is focused on the University City area, the area around Penn," Cuorato said.

However, "as you go south along the river, it's a combination of uses, highlighted by a recreational trail for biking and jogging," he continued. "We see possibilities for other commercial development along the river, but not in the magnitude that we would see in the University City area."

While many view the project as a positive development for the region, some in the neighboring communities are less enthusiastic about the prospective developments.

"We're a little put off because we're left out of the entire process" of buying, selling and developing, said Vaughn Cook, a member of the Powelton Village Civic Association. "We're the closest community, and no one asked us about it."

"We certainly recognize Penn has done a lot to improve the quality of life in West Philadelphia," said Kathryn Kurtz, president of the PVCA. However, Kurtz said Penn's "lack of communication on the postal issue" made her question whether Penn would keep its neighbors in mind when developing the property. She added that she would "like to have more information... and the possibility for making suggestions that would be within [Penn's] master plan."

Still, Blaik called Penn's plans for improving the postal lands the most exciting development project Philadelphia has ever seen, and said he considered it among the top five most exciting urban improvement endeavors in the country.

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