Philly Plain Dealer

Back in August, Drexel University agreed on a $4 million dollar purchase of a location of the 7-11 convenience store chain. The branch Drexel has purchased is located on Lancaster Avenue in West Philadelphia. The construction of this location has not gone underway yet but the purchase of this location is not only adding to the uncertainty in terms of the ongoing development, but also the  battle to preserve Philadelphia neighborhoods and communities. But is this now bringing about a pressing concern about the City of Philadelphia’s marketing as a college city? 

The 711 location is adjacent to the northwest corner of 34th Street and Lancaster Avenue in University City. Similarly enough, in February 2023 temple made the exact same purchase of a 7-11 store for $4.3 million dollars for the purpose of furthering development on their school’s campus. As the universities in Philadelphia continue to expand in their student enrollment and development, the wellbeing of the community right outside of the campuses and the offset factors that affect them are going further down the list then they already are currently. 

Besides neighborhood organizations and community activists, what is the city government going to do to protect or sanction this rapid development for the better interest of West Philadelphians?  

This all brings back the attention to how quickly Philadelphia’s identity has shifted into the best interest of the Universities and Development Companies and their view of making this city into a college town.  Especially, while 17.4% of Philadelphian adults only have a high school diploma and don’t have the means to access higher education that’s affordable. With the ongoing development and the rise of housing costs will this inevitably override the idea of the city itself being an upward working class east coast city. 

With the construction of the $450 million dollar Life Sciences Building by Drexel and Gatuso development, it seems the school administration has turned the focus of its most recent developments into Life Sciences and innovation. Drexels President Fry and development representatives from Gatuso have stated they intend to weave Temple health Penn Medicine, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Thomas Jefferson University and Temple University into employment and services. But only time will tell. 

Upenn’s campus sits on 299 acres and Drexel’s campus sits on 74 acres of land, and there is no doubt that universities will attempt to continue to develop their surrounding neighborhoods beyond University City in West Philadelphia according to Drexel School President John Fry. It almost seems as though the school and development moguls are essentially having free reign to make development happen, at no cost to the community around them or how it impacts any of the longtime residents or community ties.The next plan for the schools president and development partners is to add more development, but towards making the Schuylkill River the center of everything downtown. 

With this expansion still continuing, the rapid development coming to this part of the city will make available land scarce.