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History will be made once again in the City of Brotherly Love come spring 2010 when 6700 Essington Ave. in the Southwest section becomes the new home of the Philadelphia Regional Produce Market. The 667,000-square-foot facility will be completely refrigerated and nearly twice the size of the current market at 3100 Galloway St. off of Packer Avenue and will be the first of its kind in the nation.
After years of relocation talks but no real move for the market inside the Food Distribution Center, it came as a relief to many the groundbreaking finally took place Sept. 3 at the 48.6-acre parcel with another 15 acres nearby for parking.
"This day marks the beginning of the end of a very long road," John Estey, chairman of the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority, who will provide state and federal loan financing in addition to the $100 million state grant being used for the project, said. The port authority also will act as landlord for the 40-year lease.
"It’s been a long wait, but it’s well-deserved by everyone who’s worked for this," Sonny DiCrecchio, market general manager, said.
The merchants are anticipating the move, too.
"Overall, the building will be much easier to operate within from many points of view," John Vena, a market board member and owner of John Vena Produce, said. "The units themselves [will be] larger, we’ll have overall control of the produces’ temperature from the delivery in the trucks to our coolers to the customer. The whole chain will never be broken. The whole building will be wired for fiber optics and all of the latest communication technology."
Since the 1980s, the City has been in discussions to move the Food Distribution Center to several locations, including Oregon Avenue and Columbus Boulevard and the Navy Yard.
According to the May 15 Review article "Going west," in September ’05 Gov. Ed Rendell announced a 70-acre waterfront site in the eastern portion of the Navy Yard, much to the disappointment of a unified coalition of state Rep. Bill Keller, the International Longshoremen’s Association and the Philadelphia Marine Trade Association, who all claimed the move would cripple the city’s maritime business. The coalition presented the center with an alternate in-land site, the Pier 98 annex at Oregon and Columbus — the very location merchants accepted in ’04 but government officials rejected, enticed by the Navy Yard’s space and the chance to build up its lagging eastern section, DiCrecchio said in ’05.
In May ’07, the governor announced the center would not move to the Navy Yard because it was cost prohibitive, but did not elaborate.
Now, after all the back and forth, merchants are simply happy a move will happen.
According to a release sent out by 1st District Sen. Vince Fumo, the current site, built in ’59, cannot stand up to the amount of traffic and machinery required in today’s work world.
Jim Storey Jr., market president and owner of Quaker City Produce, agreed.
"It will be better there that we don’t have to deal with the stadiums," he said of the new site, specifically citing traffic and "150 tractor-trailers and 75,000 people at an Eagles game on a Sunday."
Vena added, "The condition of the new building is a big advantage. The facility will be much easier to operate. The wear and tear on our equipment, particularly the forklifts, is incredible. The move will help save money in a lot of ways."
Although the move takes them further from Center City, where a good deal of customers are based, the merchants are not overly concerned.
"It’s only seven minutes from here to where we want to be," Storey said.
"I think all of us are concerned that we will be out of South Philly more or less. We’re going to miss South Philly. It’s been very good to us," Vena said. "The distance isn’t really a problem. The access to the facility on I-95 is good, there are two other good access roads. It’s a bit of a problem, but it’s a trade-off. The location is very important. But if this doesn’t go forward in this location, it’s unclear where it would be located and still be within the metropolitan area of Philadelphia."
The $218.5 million project is expected to generate $10 billion for local and state governments over the next 40 years, retain 1,468 existing jobs and create more than 375 more.
"It will be the largest and most technologically advanced food center in the world," site developer Brian O’Neill said of the second-largest distribution center behind New York City that contains retail and wholesale operations selling fresh produce. "Of all the projects I’ve done in my career, I made the least money per hour working on it, but this one I’m the most proud of."
Fumo and Mayor Michael Nutter were on hand to make remarks at the groundbreaking and were equally praised for their time and monetary support for the project.
"We work best under pressure. We work best when the odds are against us," Fumo said.
Added Nutter, "The incredible history of this market is important to the region and the Commonwealth. It will reemphasize [the] No. 1 industry in Pennsylvania is agriculture."
The merchants are on the same page.
"It’s a good move, a move forward for us," Storey said. "I think for 99 percent [of the merchants] it is a positive move. We need to get out of this market. It’s falling apart. It’s a move forward for the Philadelphia Regional Produce Market. We can’t wait to get there."
