Almost a year ago, we celebrated the opening of Brewerytown’s first supermarket in decades as Bottom Dollar opened its doors at 31st & Girard. Little time has passed, but now Bottom Dollar is poised to open another location about twenty blocks away. At 9th & Girard, groundbreaking recently took place for 9th Street Marketplace, a new shopping center that already has two tenants lined up. We mentioned the potential for this development over two years ago.

In the past

Current view with foreboding clouds

At that time, we were under the impression that the project would be developed by an offshoot of Tower Investments, the company that was, at that time, building a supermarket at 2nd & Girard. As time has passed, the development torch has been passed to Soloff Realty and Development, the same company that built the Bottom Dollar in Brewerytown. According to a sign on the site, Dollar General has also signed a lease for a spot in the shopping center.

Sign on the site

Assuming that the only requirement for signing a lease here is having ‘dollar’ in your company’s name, we look forward to seeing a Dollar Tree, Dollar Loan Center, and Dollar Rent-a-Car open here as well. Any we’re missing?

In all seriousness, we’re very pleased to see this project get in the ground. While there have been new markets that have opened relatively close by in the last couple of years, this stretch could still be considered a food desert. And with the opening of a new supermarket, folks who live nearby will have dramatically improved access to fresh foods at reasonable prices. And with the Dollar General providing other necessities, the quality of life for folks who live within a ten block radius of this location is set to improve considerably.