Madeleine Kronovet

Undergraduates looking for cheap housing near campus don't need to worry about the effect that the opening of Domus will have on rental prices, according to real estate experts and local officials. Domus, the eight-story luxury apartment complex located at 34th and Chestnut streets, will open for rent in June, bringing to the market 290 new, high-end apartments targeted toward faculty, staff and graduate students.

With no easy solution, a decision regarding the move of the liquor store could go either way. The looming controversy regarding the possible move of the 41st and Market streets liquor store to 4237 Walnut St. is still unresolved, with a ruling from the city zoning board expected to come sometime in the next week.

You may soon be asking for that coffee with a doubleshot of Chestnut. The Hanover Company, which owns the Domus luxury apartment complex on 34th and Chestnut streets, is currently in talks with several companies to fill the building's retail component. Wachovia Bank is slated to occupy a 5,000 square-foot space on the first floor, and Hanover is also looking to bring in two restaurants, a coffee shop and a sporting goods store, said Andi Pesacov, the real estate broker hired by Hanover.

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Officials familiar with the negotiations say that there are talks to move the 41st and Market streets liquor store to 43rd and Walnut streets, a location close in proximity to a K-8 school and a community mosque.

Talks between the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board and community leaders to move the Wine and Spirits store, located near the intersection of 41st and Market streets, are ongoing, according to officials familiar with the negotiations. The PLCB, which regulates all liquor sales in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is looking to lease the retail space of the already-vacated Rite Aid located at 4237 Walnut St.

Sometimes, all it takes is a little chardonnay to get a neighborhood back on track. Part of a larger revitalization of the area, demolition is set to begin on the current over-the-counter liquor store on the 4900 block of Baltimore Ave., which will be moved down the block and will re-open in late spring.

Community activists are convinced that, if the city has its way, $50 million of their hard earned tax money will go to one ugly bridge. But at a public hearing yesterday, they learned that if construction doesn't start soon, it may never happen. The City Council's Committee on Streets and Services convened the hearing to debate a proposal to widen South Street.

Soon, the Spanish flavor of downtown Philadelphia may be heading west. A new restaurant headed by Jose Garces - executive chef of Center City's Amada and El Vez - will be coming to the Hub at 40th and Chestnut streets. The restaurant, with 8,400 square feet on the Hub's first and second floors, will be the largest of Garces's three restaurants, though all other details of the project - including its planned opening date, name, theme and menu - will not be determined until the summer.

After over two years of construction on Penn's Domus project, it's time for the finishing touches. Domus - the University's luxury-housing project near the intersection of 34th and Chestnut streets - remains ahead of schedule, and rooms will be available for rent in June.