Philadelphia Metropolitan Area Real Estate Law Blog

Real estate developers know that a wide array of issues needs to be addressed throughout the duration of a project. From permit to occupancy, there are potential obstacles that could hold up and even derail the whole endeavor.

Few shoppers may realize it, but there are nine different categories of shopping centers, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. There are super-regional malls, regional malls, lifestyle centers, neighborhood centers, power centers — the list is confusing until you look at the size of each category’s trade area. Neighborhood centers, for example, serve customers within a 3 mile radius; a regional mall’s trade area is 5 to 15 miles.

It may be difficult for Baby Boomers to think of Philadelphia and the concept of “destination shopping” without sighing, even momentarily, for Wanamaker’s, Lit Brothers, Gimbel’s and Strawbridge and Clothier. These were the stores you would get dressed up to go to, the stores where your mother would buy you a new Easter dress or necktie. There were sales once or twice a year, and a day of shopping would include lunch or tea at one of the in-store restaurants.

A Philadelphia developer who wants to build apartments and stores on a parcel of residentially-zoned property in South Philadelphia doesn’t just have the zoning map against him, he also has dozens of angry residents.

North Philly could become the next Philadelphia neighborhood to see a significant real estate boom. An area associated with rundown warehouses, vacant lots, widespread graffiti and high crime rates, the neighborhood is long overdue for a facelift.

Towns along the Jersey Shore are still arguing with Gov. Chris Christie, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the Army Corps of Engineers about the proposed — or, to some, mandated — construction of barrier dunes along the beaches, on land owned by the town or, in some cases, individuals. The dunes would protect the beaches and beachfront communities from extensive damage from a major storm. Over the past couple of years, the project has struggled to overcome its own barrier dunes

The Delaware Riverkeeper and Friends to Preserve Radnor co-hosted a meeting recently that featured a hydrologist from a private environmental consulting firm. The two organizations are committed to protecting the river and maintaining thriving communities in the watershed..

We have a friend in Baltimore who deals with water quality issues in the Chesapeake Bay. The bay has been plagued by algae blooms and dead zones for years. Neither the Delaware River nor Delaware Bay are in the same state of crisis as the Chesapeake Bay, but Philadelphia and surrounds face the same problems that got our “sister bay” to this point.

Just a few short weeks later, we are going back to our Jan. 3 post about Philadelphia’s attempt to tear down artist James Dupree’s studio/workshop in the Mantua neighborhood. The building is inconveniently located on a block that the city believes would be a perfect spot for a grocery store.

The course of true love and the sale of Revel Casino may never run smooth. With Brookfield US Holdings LLC officially out of the running as buyer of the Atlantic City complex — we wrote about the deal’s demise in our Nov. 21 post — the sellers turned to runner-up bidder Glenn Straub. Straub, however, has not backed off his belief that the initial auction was unfair.