Whole Foods announces September-October openings in PA

The new Whole Foods coming to the Main Line in Wynnewood - bigger and better than the old one - is scheduled to open on September 14. According to reports, the store will feature a juice and coffee bar, wood-fired pizzas, and a full-service pub called Table and Tavern.

The pub will have a full bar and a menu that includes brown-buttered sunchokes, braised octopus and duck leg confit. Rumor has it there will be real food as well. Brunch will be offered on weekends.

The next local opening is set to take place on September 28 in Lower Macungie (Allentown) at the new Hamilton Crossings shopping center. Target, Dick's, PetSmart and Rally House are already open at the center, with Costco, Nordstrom Rack and several others coming soon.

In October, the new and improved Rodin Square Whole Foods is scheduled to open on Pennsylvania Avenue in Philadelphia.

Center to be anchored by Costco, Target and Whole Foods under construction in Lehigh Valley

Construction began last month for Hamilton Crossings, the Trexlertown, PA retail center that plans to include Costco, Target, Whole Foods, Nordstrom's Rack, Dick's and PetSmart, among others. In all, developers Tim Harrison and the Goldenberg Group expect the center to include 33 retailers. The projected opening date is in July, 2016.

Whole Foods, Target, Costco center gets green light in Lower Macungie, PA

Earlier this month the Lower Macungie, PA commissioners voted 3-2 to create a tax financing district at the Route 222 bypass and Krocks Road, which will pave the way for the Hamilton Crossings shopping center that will feature Whole Foods, Costco, Target, Dick's Sporting Goods and other retailers.

A land development plan was also approved by the board, as well as other tax incentives. The project, to be developed by Goldenberg Group and Tim Harrison, is schedule for completion by Spring 2016.

Hamilton Crossings has also received about $10 million in state grants and a $3.7 million low-interest loan from the state. They are seeking a second low interest loan for approximately $3.2 million.

Previously the East Penn School District had agreed to a TIF plan that would have allowed up to $8 million future tax dollars to be used for project-related financing payments and interest. However, Lehigh County commissioners rejected the plan.

Whole Foods, Costco project in doubt as Lehigh County rejects financing deal

The excitement generated last month from the announcement that Whole Foods was planning to join Costco and Target in the Goldenberg Group's proposed development in Lower Macungie, PA has waned considerably since Lehigh County commissioners rejected tax financing for the project last week.

The tax increment financing (TIF) proposal would have allowed up to $7 million in tax dollars generated by the shopping center to be used to finance the project. Prior to the commissioners vote, the developers had said they would walk away from the project if the TIF was not approved.

After the vote, however, the developers of the project indicated that they may not be giving up. According to an article in The Morning Call, options to save Hamilton Crossings, a 63-acre site between Hamilton Blvd. and the Route 222 bypass, include the following:

• The Goldenberg Group and their partner, Tim Harrison, could move forward without the tax financing.
• The school district could increase the amount of shopping center tax proceeds it would allow to be used to cover the county's share, which would most likely require a new round of TIF meetings.
• The TIF could be revived if one of the six county commissioners who voted against it calls for a reconsideration of the project.

All three of these options are considered long shots. County Commissioner Percy Dougherty, who voted for the TIF, is worried that the developers may try to "strip the project to force it in" by backing away from some of the off-site improvements previously agreed to and cutting back on the aesthetic quality of the center, which originally was modeled after the Promenade Shops at Saucon Valley.

Whole Foods agrees to join Costco and Target in Lower Macungie

A representative from the Goldenberg Group announced last week that Whole Foods plans to join Costco and Target at the proposed Hamilton Crossings Shopping Center in Lower Macungie (Lehigh County). The 63-acre site of the proposed center is located between Hamilton Blvd. and the Route 222 Bypass.

The developers, which include the Goldenberg Group and Tim Harrison of Staten Island, NY, have asked the township and the school board to approve a tax increment financing plan that would allow the project to be funded in part by real estate taxes generated by the project. The East Penn School Board has already approved the plan, and Lower Macungie and Lehigh County commissioners plan to consider it later this month.

The developers, who say they will walk away from the project if the plan is not approved, are modeling the shopping center after the Promenade Shops at Saucon Valley. They hope to break ground this year and open the center sometime in 2014.