At least two businesses displaced from the 3900 block of Walnut Street by Penn's development plans will relocate to 42nd and Chestnut streets, store owners say.
West Philadelphia Locksmith and College Pizza are planning to make the move, and the University City Review, a weekly newspaper, has also been offered a spot.
Many of the businesses on the block lease their space from the University, which is planning to put housing and other retail there, forcing them to relocate.
Representatives for some of the businesses said that Penn didn't sufficiently support them throughout the process.
West Philadelphia Locksmith owner Phil Paul said that the University didn't help his store find a new location and offered little assistance to neighboring businesses as well.
Paul said he has always had a good relationship with the University, but the relocation "made it sour because [Penn] didn't really help us move."
But Facilities and Real Estate Services spokesman Tony Sorrentino said that Penn has assisted the locksmith, College Pizza, Last Word Books and Power Yoga by introducing them to local developers and offering them Penn-owned spaces.
Sorrentino said the businesses that are moving to 42nd and Chestnut streets are assets to the neighborhood.
"If College Pizza and West Philadelphia Locksmith have found an opportunity at 42nd and Chestnut streets, I think it's terrific that they're staying in the community," he said.
Dominic Draye, a first-year graduate student in the School of Arts and Sciences, said he patronizes the College Pizza weekly and plans to follow it to the new location.
"College Pizza's worth two blocks of walking," he said.
College Pizza owner George Ballouz said that he has contacted Penn several times in the past year to learn about possible locations for College Pizza, but officials only told him that they had nothing to offer. He said that the University never contacted him about sites.
The restaurant now plans to expand its menu and cater to both neighborhood residents and students at its new locale, Ballouz said.
His brother Elie Ballouz, who shares ownership of the eatery, said that had Penn forced the restaurant to relocate two years ago, the two could have chosen from many on-campus options, but now moving is more challenging.
"They're not interested in finding us a place," he said. "That seems to be obvious."
Penn did make some effort to relocate the University City Review, publisher Bob Christian said, adding that its new location is still to be determined.
Power Yoga will head to 40th and Chestnut streets, a move that Penn is aiding, Sorrentino said.
CVS is moving to 34th and Walnut streets, and Philly Diner is moving east to the current location of College Buffet, at 39th and Walnut streets.
Sorrentino said that Penn hopes for "a mix of small mom-and-pop businesses" and larger chains in the soon-to-be redeveloped block, but the developer will choose the tenants.
Penn has not yet announced the block's new developer.
