PHILADELPHIA-Finish Line, the Indianapolis-based athletic footwear and apparel retailer, has inked a lease valued at $3 million to open a 7,000-sf store in the former historic Eric Movie Theater at 1519 Chestnut St. Scott G. Homel, a Jenkintown-based real estate investor, acquired the long-abandoned building in 2004 for an undisclosed price.
Christopher Datz, director of asset management, and Anthony Sembello, director of brokerage services for Pintzuk Brown Realty Group, also based in Jenkintown, represented Homel. Gilead More of locally based PREIT Services, an affiliate of Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust, represented Finish Line. Pintzuk Brown, which was created last year through a merger of the Brown Realty Group and the Pintzuk Organization, will manage the property. Finish Line operates more than 550 stores in 46 states, including four in the Greater Philadelphia market area.
According to published reports, Homel is investing up to $1 million in renovations, which will include preservation of the 50-year-old theater's marquis signage. Datz tells GlobeSt.com the renovations could reach to $2 million, but not necessarily all will be done by the owner, stressing, "that's an estimate." Finish Line joins DiBruno Brothers, which recently relocated to Chestnut St., Tower Records and Borders Books in an ongoing revitalization of Center City retail along Chestnut St. Datz says the store hopes to be in operation by the coming holiday season.
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