Hilco Redevelopment Partners intend to commence redevelopment plans for the former Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES) Refinery and convert this heavily polluted site into a logistics warehousing hub in Philadelphia.
The PES Refinery site, which has been a source of pollution for over 150 years was acquired by the Hilco Global Division for $225.5 million, and the company plans to carry out demolition and remediation work on the property, to enable them accomplish their goal of developing a Hilco Logistics Warehousing Hub.
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The redevelopment plan for the former refinery site includes the demolition of 105 onsite buildings, as well as hydrocarbon processing units, boiler rooms and wastewater treatment plants, which will give way for building the logistics warehousing hub that will house between 13 million and 15 million square feet of industrial space.
After being heavily polluted and exposed to harsh chemicals for years, the former refinery site requires extensive environmental remediation, and this clean up is estimated to take about three to five years before any new development begins. Hilco plans to work with Evergreen Resources Group, who will supervise the environmental remediation of the former refinery site. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will also be involved in the clean up process as well.
Once the remediation process is completed, Hilco will start construction work on the property, which could eventually be developed into 13 million to 15 million square feet of light industrial, warehouse-distribution, last-mile and cold storage space. Roberto Perez, the CEO of Chicago-based Hilco Redevelopment Partners said there was no definite cost or breakdown yet for the development of the logistics warehousing hub in Philadelphia, but he was certain that it would eventually amount to an investment worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Perez pointed out that the property was a great find from the supplier chain perspective. He also stated, “We see this as a once-in-a generation opportunity and one of the most strategic pieces of property east of the Mississippi. It’s one that can be redeveloped to meet the new economy. This is going to be its own ecosystem. A much healthier ecosystem.”
The company plans to develop the site, using a combination of new Infrastructure and some of the already existing Infrastructure which include the existing rail, highway, water and other utilities that are already installed. The Sunoco Schuylkill River tank farm on the site will also be repositioned and according to Prez, it will serve as a tremendous energy asset to be maximized.
