Shops at The Arsenal Update

The Shopping Center at the Arsenal

Arsenal Associates, the developer of the Shopping Center at the ARSENAL, looks forward to continuing to work with the Tacony Civic Association as well as the other surrounding civic and business associations in the development of the Shopping Center at the ARSENAL. We are still in the demolition phase of the property. There were approximately 487,867 sq. ft. of space in 24 buildings on the approximately 47 acres. This proprty will ultimately be developed at the Shopping Center at the ARSENAL.

All of the buildings have been demolished except for Building #301 which is a 33,228 sq. ft. building. We are now waiting for the demolition permit to be issued for this building which we anticipate receiving within the few days, after which the demolition of that building will proceed. It should take approximately two (2) months to demolish Building #301.

The next phase of the site preparation includes what is called a “surcharge” which provides for the piling stone and crushed concrete on approximately 15 acres to an elevation of approximately 10 ft. as part of a soil compaction program to ready this portion of the site for construction. This program should take approximately six (6) months.

All other above ground demolition has essentially been completed. We are now working on the demolition of the roads and the tunnels as well as the removal of any other underground improvements which may need to be removed in order for construction to proceed.

We have been in intensive discussions with multiple large retailers ranging from a
supermarket to apparel shops, clothing stores, movie theaters etc. to lease approximately 487,867 sq. ft. of space. We are currently primarily working with these larger retailers for approximately 4,000 sq. ft. to 70,000 sq. ft. units. All of these negotiations must be kept confidential in order to protect the integrity of our negotiations with them.

We tentatively plan to begin construction of the underground site improvements including utility installation, grading and parking lot construction over the winter and into midsummer. During mid-summer or early fall, we intend to start construction of the buildings with the first group of stores to open in the first or second quarter of 2014.

This is a very exciting project which we feel will be a wonderful addition to our community. The Shopping Center at the ARSENAL shall create approximately 250 construction jobs and approximately 900 permanent retail jobs most of which should go to local residents as retailers prefer to hire local residents to insure that they will be able to arrive at work regardless of weather conditions.