[Boku]

Parkway Corp. buys 7-Eleven site on Market Street block eyed for new tower

https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...et-street.html

Parkway Corp. has purchased a building housing a 7-Eleven at 2200-2202 Market St., a sliver of a parcel that adds to the other portions of the Center City block that the company already owns.

Parkway paid 2200 Market Street Associates $4.75 million for the 3,456-square-foot corner property.

With the acquisition of the building that houses the 7-Eleven, Parkway now owns most of that block including a surface lot and the structure housing a Chinese restaurant called Golden Lake at 2206 Market St.

There is a holdout to Parkway controlling the entire block.

The owner of the building housing Liberty Bar & Grill at 2204 Market St. has decided not to sell to the real estate company. The land area totals 912 square feet and a structure on it totals 2,160 square feet, according to Philadelphia property records. Nicholas Pananos, the owner listed on property records, couldn’t be reached for comment.

“We could never get anywhere close to a deal on the small bar,” said Rob Zuritsky, CEO of Parkway Corp. “So, they won and will have that bar forever.”

Parkway is in the early stages of planning to develop a 308,000-square-foot office building at what is being referred to as 2222 Market St. for Morgan Lewis, a Philadelphia law firm. The project would rise on most of the site. The Chinese restaurant will be razed to make way for the office building, which would also be built upon the surface parking lot. Though the 7-Eleven won’t be part of the development, Parkway felt it was better the company owned it, Zuritsky said.

Earlier this year, Morgan Lewis said it was working on negotiations with Parkway on the development of the new office building at 2222 Market.

"As we maintain a constant focus on client service, we believe this new development will provide creative space design infused with cutting-edge technology that will increase collaboration and operational efficiencies,” the law firm said at the time.

The location is on the western edge of the Central Business District and is an area of the city getting more interest from developers and office tenants. That activity is helping to close the gap between Center City and University City.

Most recently, Brandywine Realty Trust proposed a 23-story mixed-use project at 2120 Market St. that would total 533,000 square feet of which 326,000 square feet would be office space. The remainder would be filled by 147 residential units and retail space. Erdy McHenry is the architect. Brandywine will begin construction once it secures a certain amount of office leasing.

PMC Property Group has two residential projects under development in that part of the city. One project at 60 N. 23rd St. will have 291 apartments and a second tower with 321 apartments will be built at 2301 John F. Kennedy Blvd. Aramark Corp. relocated its headquarters to 2400 Market St. That building also houses the Fitler Club, a lifestyle club that has a range of amenities including dining, coworking, fitness and overnight rooms.