The Gallery at Market East
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| Location | 9th & Market Streets, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
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| Opening date | 1977[1] |
| Owner | Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust |
| No. of stores and services | 130+ |
| No. of anchor tenants | 2 |
| Total retail floor area | 1,080,002 sq ft (100,335.5 m2)[1] |
| Parking | 2 parking garages |
| No. of floors | 4 |
| Website | galleryatmarketeast.com |
The Gallery at Market East, or "The Gallery" as it is known to locals, is an urban mall in downtown Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States with over 130 stores and a food court. The mall's major anchor stores are Kmart and Burlington Coat Factory.
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[edit] Layout and history
The mall was opened in 1977. It was later expanded as Gallery I and II in the early 1980s. The Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT) acquired the Gallery I in April 2003 from The Rouse Company. They acquired Gallery II in the third fiscal quarter of 2004 from the state's Public School Employees' Retirement System. The total complex measures approximately 1,100,000 square feet (100,000 m2) of retail space, and at its peak, had about 130 stores.
All four levels of the mall run parallel to Market Street, with access from the basement level of the now-closed Strawbridge's department store at 8th Street, the main entrance at 9th and Market Streets, to a concourse for SEPTA's Market East Station at 11th and 12th streets. The mall also accesses an underground concourse connecting the Market-Frankford Line at its 8th and 11th street stations. At the west end, a short concourse with an elevator and escalators connects the mall with the Reading Terminal Market, Hard Rock Cafe restaurant, the head house for the old Reading Terminal (now part of the Pennsylvania Convention Center) and a Marriott hotel, which are all on the periphery. The downtown Philadelphia Greyhound bus terminal is immediately to the north, at 10th and Filbert Streets. The main entrance of the Convention Center is two blocks away on Arch Street, between 11th and 13th.
On the street level, The Gallery takes up the block between Market and Filbert Streets, between 9th and 11th streets. At 10th and Market Streets sits a two-floor Kmart. At 11th Street, Burlington Coat Factory holds a portion of the mall level, and some of the second and third floors; the space was originally built for a JCPenney.
The Gallery is composed of Gallery I on its east side and Gallery II on the west, although any distinction between the two areas is no longer of any significance. Gallery I extends underground, and was formerly anchored by Strawbridge's at 8th Street and Gimbel's at 10th Street. The Strawbridge's site, which had 522,000 sq ft (48,500 m2) of floor space, is now vacant after closing in 2006. Without a major department store, Modell's Sporting Goods is the major tenant of Gallery I. In 1984, the concourse was continued to the west and Gallery II section opened to the public. The Gallery II, with its first and second levels now the focal point of the entire mall, is anchored between Burlington Coat Factory and Kmart. It has about 50 other tenants, including major retailers Old Navy and Pay Half. Overall the mall is largely made up of independent urban clothing and shoe stores, and is conspicuous for its lack of high-end retailers. About a quarter of the stores on the fourth level of the western end of the mall (Gallery II) are now vacant. The mall is notorious for being a destination for local teenagers, even during school hours, and it has largely garnered a poor reputation from Philadelphia residents.[2].
In September 2008, the developers of Foxwoods Casino Philadelphia changed their proposed casino location to The Gallery at Market East, after enduring opposition from residents near the original proposed site in South Philadelphia. The new proposal was endorsed by both Mayor Michael Nutter and Governor Ed Rendell. The original proposal for the Foxwoods Casino at The Gallery at Market East was for a 3,000-slot-machine casino on two floors currently occupied by Burlington Coat Factory, forcing that store to relocate. However, on February 26, 2009, it was announced that the developers of the Foxwoods Casino were looking into locating their new casino on three floors of the former Strawbridge's store.[3]
[edit] Anchors
- Kmart (150,000 sq ft.)
- Burlington Coat Factory (127,271 sq ft.)
[edit] Former anchors and majors
- Strawbridge & Clothier Flagship & Home office
- Gimbel's A four-level store; replacing their regional flagship which occupied 3/4 of the block of 800 Market Street
- JC Penney At 11th & Market, anchored the second phase, opened 1984
- Sterns Replaced Gimbels since 1990
- Clover Discount Store Replaced Sterns since 1996
[edit] Transit connections
The following rail stations are connected to The Gallery:
- 8th St Station — SEPTA Market-Frankford Line, SEPTA Broad-Ridge Spur, PATCO Speedline
- 11th St Station — SEPTA Market-Frankford Line
- Market East Station — SEPTA Regional Rail
[edit] References
- ^ a b "The Gallery at Market East Property Overview". PREIT. http://www.preit.com/leasing/detail/property_overview/30. Retrieved 2010-10-14.
- ^ "yelp.com". http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-gallery-at-market-east-philadelphia.
- ^ Lin, Jennifer (February 26, 2009). "Another casino shift possible in Phila.". The Philadelphia Inquirer. http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/40337662.html. Retrieved 2009-02-27.[dead link]
[edit] External links
- The Gallery at Market East — corporate website
- The Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment trust — corporate owners
- Philebrity
Coordinates: 39°57′07″N 75°09′24″W / 39.952076°N 75.156612°W
