Two tenants unveiled for 40th, Chestnut

A private developer has broken ground on a new 11-story retail and residential building at 40th and Chestnut streets.

Teres Holdings, a Philadelphia-based development firm, has taken over the site, which formerly housed United Bank.

The project will likely be completed by the end of 2006 and the site work is well underway. Tenants are expected to be in place by early 2007, with 20,000 square feet of retail space offered on three levels.

Power Yoga will move from its current location at 3925 Walnut St. to the new site. It will be joined by the Jean Madeline Aveda Institute, an accredited cosmetology school, whose multi-level complex will include a salon.

Bob Hoe, a member of Teres Holdings, said that the area has also attracted interest from other potential tenants -- such as food outlets, bookstore and video/rental opportunities, banks and clothing businesses -- in addition to the two tenants that have signed leases.

He also cited the University's interest in bringing an office products retailer to campus as another opportunity. However, Hoe was unable to provide any names of firms Teres Holdings was in negotiations with, saying that "it's best to be conservative," when dealing with real estate issues.

Leasing activity is expected to pick up again in the late fall and over the winter.

"We're eager for our building to start coming out of the ground," he said. "That's when prospects really start to get excited. That's when they really know it's a real project."

Hoe added that while the firm was "delighted" that both Jean Madeline and PowerYoga are local, it also wants to mix local single-store proprietors as well as more local and regional players who have several locations.

"It's probable, we hope, we'll get a national retailer," he said.

Hoe also pointed to the example of 40th and Walnut St., saying that it wasn't too long ago when people would "shake their heads and say it'll never happen ‹¨« it's just never going to be terribly exciting."

"That's what we want to happen, the same explosion of opportunities that'll happen at 40th and Chestnut," he said.

Retail ventures will "be conducive to the student market as well as fit into the character of 40th Street, which has emerged nicely as a Main Street for University City," University spokesman Tony Sorrentino said.

The building -- which will incorporate a lot of glass as part of its contemporary design -- will house approximately 90 market-rate apartments that will mostly be available late summer for residents in 2006.

The project is designed to be accessible to both students at Penn and Drexel University as well as residents from the surrounding area. Sorrentino said he believed that students living in "the beige block area who may want to live in a brand new apartment [and] be that much closer to campus" would be attracted to the apartments.

"40th Street really has become the center of University City so it's a great choice to do a development like this," University City District spokeswoman Lori Brennan said.

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