PHILADELPHIA—The fifth largest city in the U.S., the City ofBrotherly Love seems to have it all—a thriving downtown that'sgrowing among young adults, 16 colleges and universities, thecountry's third busiest rail station and a thriving restaurant andcultural scene. As a destination, the area hosts 40 millionvisitors annually. But it doesn't have a critical mass of retail.That's about to change, believes PREIT CEOJoseph Coradino. We spoke with him inanticipation of ICSC RECon about the state of retail in PREIT'shometown.

Recent and ongoing improvements in the area are giving retailerscause to slowly but surely put down stakes in Philadelphia, saysCoradino. He cites research showing $1 billion of purchasing powerleaving the city annually.

And there is reason for the optimism. Philadelphia's governmentand the many corporations based there have invested in thebetterment of the city. Upon completion of DilworthPlaza at Philadelphia's City Hall, the cumulative capitalinvestment in public area improvements since 1997 will exceed $125million. Media giant Comcast is building a new$1.2 billion Technology and Innovation Center,creating thousands of jobs. The Children's Hospital ofPhiladelphia, University of Pennsylvania,Drexel University and Thomas JeffersonUniversity all have plans to expand as well.