Penn Goes Postal

by Amy L. Webb

The University of Pennsylvania announced last week that it is acquiring the U.S. Postal Service’s 30th Street facility and will take complete ownership in 2007.

The acquisition is part of a 25-year plan to develop the Penn campus and Schuylkill River area into residential, campus, retail and public space. The property includes a 24-acre parcel of land in the University City district, covering a site west of the Schuylkill River and east of the Penn campus between South and Market streets.

Included in the $50.6 million deal are the main post office building, its 30th and Market annex, a parking garage at 31st and Chestnut, and a 14-acre surface parking lot south of Walnut Street.

Penn is working toward adaptive reuse by preserving the original facades and building exteriors while gutting the interiors to modernize fixtures. For now, the post office building will be used as office space, while detailed plans for other buildings have yet to be decided.

"This is a real plus for the City of Philadelphia," says Tony Sorrentino, Penn spokesman for facilities and real estate services. "It needs to be something more than a post office’s regional headquarters. This land has great potential."

The Penn campus, which now occupies 270 acres of land, has expanded an average of 50 acres every 70 years. Because Drexel University sits north of Penn and the areas to the south and west are now neighborhoods, the last possible area for Penn to grow was east.

"This move will allow us to keep all of our buildings in a compact campus," Sorrentino says. "We’re going to bring in new residential space, new arts and entertainment venues, retail stores and recreational facilities."

Penn has worked closely with the Schuylkill River Development Corp. (SRDC) to finalize the project. The SRDC has been trying to revitalize the waterfront to be the city’s second transportation, corporate and residential hub outside of Center City.

To acquire and develop the property, Penn has entered into a partnership with several organizations including Drexel, the Delaware River Port Authority, U.S. Postal Service, University City District, Army Corps of Engineers, City of Philadelphia and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Until Penn takes official control of the land, the organizations will meet to discuss how to develop and use the land. In the meantime, the Postal Service will continue to occupy the main post office as a tenant until its new facility at the Philadelphia Airport is finished.

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