Citizens shuttering 15 more branches, including three in Greater Philadelphia

In a July 29 filing with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Providence, Rhode Island-based Citizens (NYSE: CFG) said it plans to shutter the following locations:

  • 2001 Market St., Philadelphia
  • 1313 Franklin Mills Circle, Philadelphia
  • 131 Second St., Lewes, Delaware

In addition, the filings said the bank plans to close five sites in western Pennsylvania, three in Ohio and two each in Michigan and New York.

These closings come less than a week after July 23 filings in which Citizens said it planned to close 10 branches, including locations in Horsham, Northeast Philadelphia and Havertown.

As of the June 30, 2020 annual FDIC deposit data, Citizens (NYSE: CFG) had 168 Philadelphia-area branches and a little more than $19 billion in deposits — good enough for fourth-most in the region behind Wells Fargo, TD Bank and PNC Bank.

Like its peers, the pandemic has accelerated customer usage of online and mobile platforms, causing the bank to increase the pace of branch closures. Citizens has closed 61 branches across its footprint so far this year, already significantly more than the 48 it closed in all of 2020. And it has now filed to close 69 branches, exceeding the 53 filings for the entirety of 2020.

*Article courtesy of Philadephia Business Journal

For more information about Philadelphia retail space for sale or lease in Philadelphia or about any other Philadelphia properties for sale or lease, please contact WCRE at 215-799-6900.

Wolf Commercial Real Estate, a full-service CORFAC International brokerage, and advisory firm, is a premier Philadelphia commercial real estate broker that provides a full range of Philadelphia commercial real estate listings and services, property management services, and marketing commercial offices, medical properties, industrial properties, land properties, retail buildings and other Philadelphia commercial properties for buyers, tenants, investors, and sellers.

Please visit our websites for a full listing of Philadelphia commercial properties for lease or sale through our Philadelphia commercial real estate brokerage firm.

After foreclosure, Montgomery Mall put up for sale

The Montgomery Mall, foreclosed upon and in receivership, has been put up for sale.

The mall could sell for an estimated $50 million, according to various sources, which is a fraction of the $118 million judgment lodged against the property as a result of a loan default. The estimate is a reflection of an August 2020 appraisal of the mall that had it valued at $61 million, or $55 a square foot. In 2014, the mall had been appraised at $195 million, or $176 a square foot, according to Cred-IQ.

The 1.1-million-square-foot center on nearly 105 acres at routes 202 and 309 in North Wales serves as an example of the struggles malls were undergoing before the pandemic that, in many cases, have been exacerbated by the effects of Covid-19.

The regional mall has experienced some vacancies as retailers close or file for bankruptcy protection. As with many retail centers, it has also faced competition from the rise of online shopping, which intensified during the pandemic.

Montgomery Mall has a vacant Sears, which totals 169,000 square feet, and is also anchored by two other challenged retailers — Macy’s, which occupies 218,000 square feet, and JCPenney with 166,375 square feet. Neither Macy’s nor JCPenney, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last May, have announced the closure of these locations.

Companies that operate as some of the mall’s smaller anchors, such as H&M, which occupies 20,085 square feet, are also facing headwinds. H&M has said it plans to close 350 stores this year and open 100 new ones. The company hasn’t divulged which locations it intends to shutter.

*Article courtesy of Philadephia Business Journal

For more information about Philadelphia retail space for sale or lease in Philadelphia or about any other Philadelphia properties for sale or lease, please contact WCRE at 215-799-6900.

Wolf Commercial Real Estate, a full-service CORFAC International brokerage, and advisory firm, is a premier Philadelphia commercial real estate broker that provides a full range of Philadelphia commercial real estate listings and services, property management services, and marketing commercial offices, medical properties, industrial properties, land properties, retail buildings and other Philadelphia commercial properties for buyers, tenants, investors, and sellers.

Please visit our websites for a full listing of Philadelphia commercial properties for lease or sale through our Philadelphia commercial real estate brokerage firm.

Santander plans to close 15 more Pennsylvania bank branches this year

Santander Bank said it plans to close 15 more Pennsylvania branches by the end of 2021. If those sites are all located in southeastern Pennsylvania, it could equate to shaving off as much as a quarter of its remaining locations in the Philadelphia region.

“Like many industries, our customers’ preferences and behaviors are shifting,” Santander said in a statement provided to the Philadelphia Business Journal. “We are listening and responding by adjusting our business model and delivery to better serve our customers, which includes consolidating branches while also opening new ones; increasing our investment in digital, service center and ATM capabilities; and testing new products and services.”

While Santander said it plans to announce 15 more Pennsylvania branch closures in 2021, it also has five large capital projects, including opening a new branch, and more than 23 branch renovations planned for the next 18 months.

Santander, which remains the seventh-largest deposit taker in the region, already closed two area branches earlier this year in North Philadelphia and Dresher and has filed to shutter eight more this month in Yardley, Wyndmoor, Lafayette Hill, Chestnut Hill, Mount Airy, Northeast Philadelphia, Burlington and Pennsauken.

*Article courtesy of Philadephia Business Journal

For more information about Philadelphia retail space for sale or lease in Philadelphia or about any other Philadelphia properties for sale or lease, please contact WCRE at 215-799-6900.

Wolf Commercial Real Estate, a full-service CORFAC International brokerage, and advisory firm, is a premier Philadelphia commercial real estate broker that provides a full range of Philadelphia commercial real estate listings and services, property management services, and marketing commercial offices, medical properties, industrial properties, land properties, retail buildings and other Philadelphia commercial properties for buyers, tenants, investors, and sellers.

Please visit our websites for a full listing of Philadelphia commercial properties for lease or sale through our Philadelphia commercial real estate brokerage firm.

Citizens Bank closing 3 more Philadelphia-area branches

Citizens Bank has filed to close three more branches in the Philadelphia region as it continues to optimize its retail footprint and terminate relationships with local supermarkets.

In a July 23 filing with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Citizens said it will close the following locations:

    • 314 Horsham Road in Horsham, inside a Giant supermarket
    • 3200-92 Red Lion Road in Philadelphia, inside an Acme supermarket
    • 160 W. Eagle Road in Havertown

As of the June 30, 2020 annual FDIC deposit data, Citizens (NYSE: CFG) had 168 Philadelphia-area branches and a little more than $19 billion in deposits — good enough for fourth-most in the region behind Wells Fargo, TD Bank and PNC Bank.

Like its peers, the pandemic has accelerated customer usage of online and mobile platforms, causing the bank to increase the pace of branch closures. Citizens has closed 61 branches across its footprint so far this year, already significantly more than the 48 it closed in all of 2020. Locally, those included sites in Southampton, Aldan, Aston, Frankford, Jenkintown and North Philadelphia. Its applications to shutter sites in Torresdale and Southampton have also been approved.

*Article courtesy of Philadephia Business Journal

For more information about Philadelphia retail space for sale or lease in Philadelphia or about any other Philadelphia properties for sale or lease, please contact WCRE at 215-799-6900.

Wolf Commercial Real Estate, a full-service CORFAC International brokerage, and advisory firm, is a premier Philadelphia commercial real estate broker that provides a full range of Philadelphia commercial real estate listings and services, property management services, and marketing commercial offices, medical properties, industrial properties, land properties, retail buildings and other Philadelphia commercial properties for buyers, tenants, investors, and sellers.

Please visit our websites for a full listing of Philadelphia commercial properties for lease or sale through our Philadelphia commercial real estate brokerage firm.

Montgomery Mall Foreclosed Upon, $118M Judgment Issued

A bank has foreclosed on Montgomery Mall and a $118.78 million judgment has been rendered against the property’s owner, an entity affiliated with Simon Property Group, according to court documents.

Wilmington Trust, as trustee for Wells Fargo Commercial Mortgage, filed in early June in the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas to start foreclosure proceedings and place the 1.1-million-square-foot mall at the crossroads of Routes 202 and 309 in North Wales in receivership.

By June 22, a receiver had been appointed and, by July 12, a judge approved a judgment in mortgage foreclosure against Mall at Montgomery LP, the Simon affiliate. It was also requested that the property be sold to satisfy the loan.

It’s not unusual for owners to sometimes relinquish properties that they have determined no longer fit within their core portfolio, and it was practiced with some frequency during the Great Recession. Whether the Montgomery Mall fit into that category for Simon (NYSE: SPG) couldn’t be determined, though signs point to that. A company spokesperson couldn’t be reached for comment.

The judgment and foreclosure of the Montgomery Mall were foreshadowed last year when Simon notified the special servicer overseeing a $100 million loan on the Montgomery Mall that it was “unwilling to inject additional funds into [the] loan, but is willing to manage [the] property,” and that the loan was facing imminent default, according to a report by Cred-IQ, which tracks commercial mortgage-backed securities.

*Article courtesy of Philadephia Business Journal

For more information about Philadelphia retail space for sale or lease in Philadelphia or about any other Philadelphia properties for sale or lease, please contact WCRE at 215-799-6900.

Wolf Commercial Real Estate, a full-service CORFAC International brokerage, and advisory firm, is a premier Philadelphia commercial real estate broker that provides a full range of Philadelphia commercial real estate listings and services, property management services, and marketing commercial offices, medical properties, industrial properties, land properties, retail buildings and other Philadelphia commercial properties for buyers, tenants, investors, and sellers.

Please visit our websites for a full listing of Philadelphia commercial properties for lease or sale through our Philadelphia commercial real estate brokerage firm.

Santander to close 3 more Philadelphia-area bank branches

Santander Bank has filed to close three more Philadelphia-area branches as part of a broader focus on trimming its retail footprint.

The Boston-based bank, a subsidiary of Spain’s Santander Group (NYSE: SAN), filed with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to shutter the following three sites on July 7:

    • 95 S. Main St. in Yardley
    • 322 High St. in Burlington, New Jersey
    • 5714 Westfield Ave. in Pennsauken, New Jersey

This comes after Santander closed locations at 5601 N. Broad St. in North Philadelphia and 1650 Limekiln Pike in Dresher. The latest planned closings will leave the bank with 67 Philadelphia-area branches — 61 in southeastern Pennsylvania, five in South Jersey and one in Delaware. It remains the seventh-largest deposit taker in the region.

*Article courtesy of Philadephia Business Journal

For more information about Philadelphia retail space for sale or lease in Philadelphia or about any other Philadelphia properties for sale or lease, please contact WCRE at 215-799-6900.

Wolf Commercial Real Estate, a full-service CORFAC International brokerage, and advisory firm, is a premier Philadelphia commercial real estate broker that provides a full range of Philadelphia commercial real estate listings and services, property management services, and marketing commercial offices, medical properties, industrial properties, land properties, retail buildings and other Philadelphia commercial properties for buyers, tenants, investors, and sellers.

Please visit our websites for a full listing of Philadelphia commercial properties for lease or sale through our Philadelphia commercial real estate brokerage firm.

Demolition of Downey’s Irish Pub for new development aims to ‘breathe new life’ into South Street

A demolition permit has been pulled for South Street’s storied Downey’s Irish Pub and Restaurant, which dates back to the 1970s and appeared on the television show “Bar Rescue.”

Issued on July 7, the permit greenlights the full demolition of the structure at 526 Front St. that also stretches along 109-11 South St. The property totals 10,682 square feet.

The permit was issued to CWMW Lending LLC, which owns the property, according to city records.

Filings with the city’s Department of Licenses and Inspections indicate a zoning appeal has been filed that calls for complete demolition of existing structures on the parcel and for an attached structure with a cellar and residential-use roof deck to be built. It would be used for a first-floor commercial space, 18 multi-family housing units, and six off-street accessory bike parking spaces, per L&I records.

Rich Villa, architect-partner at Ambit Architecture in Society Hill, applied for the permit. Ambit Architecture’s past work includes a renovation at Bloomsday Cafe, construction for the revived Bridget Foy’s, and adaptive re-use work at New Liberty Distilling’s space in the Crane Arts Building in Olde Kensington.

There is no change of ownership for the new construction at 526 Front St., Villa told the Business Journal. He declined to comment further on the plans for the space.

*Article courtesy of Philadephia Business Journal

For more information about Philadelphia retail space for sale or lease in Philadelphia or about any other Philadelphia properties for sale or lease, please contact WCRE at 215-799-6900.

Wolf Commercial Real Estate, a full-service CORFAC International brokerage, and advisory firm, is a premier Philadelphia commercial real estate broker that provides a full range of Philadelphia commercial real estate listings and services, property management services, and marketing commercial offices, medical properties, industrial properties, land properties, retail buildings and other Philadelphia commercial properties for buyers, tenants, investors, and sellers.

Please visit our websites for a full listing of Philadelphia commercial properties for lease or sale through our Philadelphia commercial real estate brokerage firm.

Brooklyn-based Other Half Brewing to take over former Goose Island location in Fishtown

It looks like another out-of-town brewing company is making plans to set up shop in Philadelphia in the near future at a once-popular location to grab a beer and bite to eat.

Other Half Brewing Company, a Brooklyn-based craft beer brewer and distributor, is slated to move into the space where Goose Island Brewery formerly operated at 1002 Canal St. in Fishtown. The new brewery is scheduled to open later this year, according to the Inquirer.

Co-founder Andrew Burman told the Inquirer that the brewery “couldn’t pass it up” when the opportunity to expand to Philly presented itself.

“The bones of the space are great and over the coming months, we’ll refresh the indoor and outdoor areas and work on sourcing food partners,” Burman said.

Other Half Brewing recently filed a license through the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board for the former Goose Island location in Philly, according to Breweries In PA. The license was filed under the name “OHB PA LLC,” an acronym similar to one that the company used for its Washington, D.C. location.

It remains unknown whether Other Half Brewing plans to brew beer at its forthcoming Philly location. The company’s craft beer is primarily brewed at its Brooklyn headquarters.

Other Half Brewing was started in 2014 by three founders with a mission “to create beers that they wanted to drink from a company that they wanted to be a part of,” according to the brewery’s website.

“The craft beer industry is often made up of sameness: predictable styles, formulaic taprooms and a homogeneous culture. Some of it is good and some of it not so good. Either way, we’re not that,” the company said of its Other Half name origin.

Known for its hazy IPAs, pastry stouts and fruit-flavored sours, Other Half Brewing has expanded to Washington, D.C. and the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York. The brewery also now offers direct beer shipping to Pennsylvania five days a week.

Other Half Brewing’s anticipated arrival to Fishtown is just the latest in a string of breweries and businesses that have sprouted in an entertainment hub surrounding Fillmore Philadelphia and Punch Line Philly.

New Jersey-based craft brewer Source Farmhouse Brewery is scheduled to open at the Fishtown Brewpub’s old location at 1101 Frankford Ave. this August.

Brewery ARS has said that it will open a second location at 2223 Frankford Ave. in Fishtown.

Brooklyn Bowl aims to bring a music venue, restaurant and bowling alley to 1001 Delaware Ave., the former site of Revolutions, at some point in the future, too.

The Chicago-based Goose Island opened its Fishtown brewery in 2018. The 10,000-square-foot brewpub offered 28 taps, a full kitchen and brewing operations. The brewery permanently closed last December due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

*Article courtesy of Philly Voice

For more information about Philadelphia retail space for sale or lease in Philadelphia or about any other Philadelphia properties for sale or lease, please contact WCRE at 215-799-6900.

Wolf Commercial Real Estate, a full-service CORFAC International brokerage, and advisory firm, is a premier Philadelphia commercial real estate broker that provides a full range of Philadelphia commercial real estate listings and services, property management services, and marketing commercial offices, medical properties, industrial properties, land properties, retail buildings and other Philadelphia commercial properties for buyers, tenants, investors, and sellers.

Please visit our websites for a full listing of Philadelphia commercial properties for lease or sale through our Philadelphia commercial real estate brokerage firm.

Hooters Spinoff Hoots Wings Plans to Open 16 Philadelphia-Area Restaurant Locations

Family-friendly Hooters spinoff Hoots Wings plans to expand its East Coast presence with 16 locations across Greater Philadelphia.

ANZ Hospitality LLC, a Malvern-based hospitality company, aims to open the new franchise locations within 20 miles of Philadelphia by 2026, with the first restaurant expected to open by the end of this year.

Hoots Wings is owned and operated by Hooters’ Atlanta-based parent company HOA Brands. Unlike Hooters, Hoots Wings operates as a quick-service restaurant and employs modestly-dressed male and female servers.

There are currently seven Hoots Wings locations spread throughout Illinois, Georgia and Florida. The chain is on track to open 17 sites nationwide by the end of the year with signed development commitments in over 85 locations, according to HOA Brands.

*Article courtesy of Philadelphia Business Journal

For more information about Philadelphia retail space for sale or lease in Philadelphia or about any other Philadelphia properties for sale or lease, please contact WCRE at 215-799-6900.

Wolf Commercial Real Estate, a full-service CORFAC International brokerage, and advisory firm, is a premier Philadelphia commercial real estate broker that provides a full range of Philadelphia commercial real estate listings and services, property management services, and marketing commercial offices, medical properties, industrial properties, land properties, retail buildings and other Philadelphia commercial properties for buyers, tenants, investors, and sellers.

Please visit our websites for a full listing of Philadelphia commercial properties for lease or sale through our Philadelphia commercial real estate brokerage firm.

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