PREIT Reveals The Gallery’s New Look

Everything about the decrepit Gallery at Market East may be about to change.

Under an intended top-to-bottom renovation, one of Center City’s most notorious dead spots would be reborn as a gleaming glass-and-steel emporium – brimming with brand-name discount fashion shops, destination restaurants, and lively sidewalk cafés.

Even the name would be new. Welcome, shoppers, to the Fashion Outlets of Philadelphia.

Details of the plan were provided exclusively to The Inquirer in advance of a series of meetings by government agencies whose support is vital to the project. The news marks a grand unveiling of plans for the Gallery following years of uncertainty and speculation.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20150415_PREIT_reveals_the_Gallery_s_new_look.html#ZjuIZxyXWmB7TTV1.99

Can The Wyoming Valley’s Platter Hold More Restaurants?

WILKES-BARRE TWP., PA — Five national chain restaurants opened in the area last year and two more are slated to open soon. Two others — Pizza Hut and Lone Star — went out of business last month.

So has area’s restaurant bubble finally popped?

No, said John Bartorillo, president of Maslow Lumia Bartorillo Advertising in Wilkes-Barre.

“Saturated? No,” said Bartorillo. “We have not reached that point yet.”

Read more:

http://www.timesleader.com/news/business-home_top/151817501/Is-there-room-for-more

Plans To Transform Underperforming Burlington Mall

Over the next two to three months, officials in Burlington Township will be getting architectural and civil engineering drawings of what the new Marketplace at Burlington – formerly Burlington Center Mall – will look like, as well as a count of the traffic it is hoped it will generate.

By mid-spring of next year, owner Moonbeam Capital Investments L.L.C. of Las Vegas says, groundbreaking will begin to convert the underperforming mall into a must-see destination off Exit 47A of I-295 for shopping, dining, and entertainment.

If all goes as planned, the $230 million-plus phased conversion will also include manicured green spaces with benches and fountains that seamlessly tie a traditional mall with an open-air town center.

The full build-out is expected to take from two to three years and will be done in stages. The mall will stay open the entire time.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20150124_Plans_to_transform_underperforming_Burlington_mall.html#ryTRJvJqSdssWhue.99

Update: Philadelphia Area Restaurant Openings

To update the crop of projected restaurant openings over the next eight weeks or so:

Mere hours old is The Crazy Sofa, a sushi/small plater, next to the Regal theater in Newtown Square (the former Roux 3).

Any day now, Collingswood will see the debut of Local Market and Cafe (714 Haddon Ave.), which will sell foods to go or eat-in and will have a coffee bar, deli, butcher, bakery and grocery sections.

Friday, Nov. 21 is day one for Latin Flavor, a Caribbean cafeteria at 627 South St.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/the-insider/Update-Restaurant-openings.html#kJeUoftlBK7KtdFG.99

Lancaster City Alliance Moves Toward New Phase Of Revitalization

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Lancaster County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Stadium: Check.

Arts district: Check.

Convention Center: Check.

Tourism: Check.

Sixteen years after business leaders tried to revive Lancaster city with an economic development plan, many of the plan’s major components have come to pass.

Lancaster is a very different city than it was in 1998.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/lancaster-city-alliance-moves-toward-new-phase-of-revitalization/article_0c4d62e2-ecee-11e3-a77e-001a4bcf6878.html

Wilkes-Barre Looking To Develop Downtown Sites

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Luzerne County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

WILKES-BARRE, PA — The city is shopping its downtown properties cleared during emergency demolition and sweetening the offer with the prospect of tax exemptions associated with a Keystone Opportunity Zone.

The city condemned its vacant structures last October that were in danger of collapse and entered a $194,861 contract to tear them down while leaving stand two other privately owned buildings located in the middle of the cluster.

Earlier this week, the city put out a request for proposals for development of the properties at 69, 71, 73-75 S. Main St. with a March 6 response deadline. The city would like to see multistory, mixed-use development on the site to include ground-floor specialty retail shops and restaurants and office or residential space above, similar to the University Corners property across the street.

Read more: http://timesleader.com/news/local-news/1158435/City-looking-to-develop-sites

10 Reasons Why Pittsburgh Owned 2013

From a giant rubber duck to cutting-edge restaurants to a yarn-bombed bridge, our city had the world buzzing this year.

By anyone’s standards, 2012 was a landmark year for Pittsburgh, capped off by “The Dark Knight Rises” hitting theaters and unveiling the ’Burgh as the fabled Gotham, not to mention National Geographic imploring the world’s travelers to train new eyes on our formerly smoky city.

Little did we know, that was just the beginning. As we get ready to tuck this year away, let’s take a look back at how Pittsburgh owned 2013.

Brace yourself, Portland.

See the list here:  http://www.pittsburghmagazine.com/Best-of-the-Burgh-Blogs/Pitt-Girl/December-2013/10-Reasons-Why-Pittsburgh-Owned-2013/

Century III New Owner Seeks To Reverse Vacancy Trend With New Theater

Map of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States with township and municipal boundaries (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The owner of Century III is betting that a movie theater could help revitalize the struggling West Mifflin mall.

Las Vegas-based Moonbeam Capital Investments LLC, which bought the mall in May, said it is negotiating with two national chains with a Pittsburgh-area presence to open a first-run movie theater with stadium seating in Century III. Shawl L. Pryor, senior vice president of real estate, won’t name the companies because no lease has been signed.

Contending with a high vacancy rate, about 32 percent, and low foot traffic, the 34-year-old mall needs an entertainment component as part of its revitalization, Moonbeam said.

“We believe that it’s a very important aspect of why people go back to the mall. It’s not just to buy clothing anymore,” Moonbeam Chief Executive Officer Steven Maksin said.

Read more: http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/5157496-74/mall-iii-century#ixzz2nGz6riE4
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Kickstarting A Braddock Restaurant: Kevin Sousa’s Superior Motors

Map of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States with township and municipal boundaries (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When chef Kevin Sousa last year announced plans to open a fourth restaurant in Braddock, one of the Pittsburgh area’s poorest boroughs, it was big news. Not only would the high-end destination eatery in the 1929 Couda Building give Pittsburghers one more place to enjoy Mr. Sousa’s award-winning modern cuisine, but it also would bring much-needed life to a town all but left for dead.

Then reality set in.

While various grants from the county and Heritage Community Initiatives were to raise upwards of $300,000 for renovations, the dilapidated structure at the corner of Eighth and Braddock avenues would end up needing way more resources. Too many dollars, in fact, to make the ambitious project feasible. Magarac — as the restaurant was to be named after the imaginary Croatian steelmaking folk hero — was about to be history before it even got started.

Without rich investors or bankers willing to take a chance, Mr. Sousa had to change direction this fall to keep his dream alive. First up was finding a new building that would prove cheaper, quicker and easier to build out. Second was coming up with a creative source of financing to pay for it.

With Mayor John Fetterman’s help, he’s hoping to hit on both cylinders.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/life/dining/2013/12/05/Kickstarting-the-Braddock-restaurant/stories/201312050096#ixzz2md7YTAqp

Chef Appeal: Pittsburgh’s Growing Restaurant Scene Attracts Staff From Bigger Cities

Pittsburgh‘s up-and-coming dining scene not only is starting to generate buzz among locals, it’s also becoming known as a good place to build a career.

Indeed, the city’s new outcrop of restaurants is one of the industries — in addition to technology, health care, engineering and education — that’s drawing young people to Pittsburgh.

“The chef who wants to make a break for it has a paved path in Pittsburgh,” said Brandon Baltzley, 28, the Chicago-based firebrand chef who has spent the past year here working as a cook in restaurants and staging pop-up dinners.

“Easy living, affordable everything and a burgeoning food scene: This is an area that will soon get attention on a national level.”

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/life/dining/chef-appeal-pittsburghs-growing-restaurant-scene-attracts-staff-from-bigger-cities-686340/#ixzz2STEtrnO0