Love Park's Saucer deal and a $1 airport-area lease pass Council

Two deals for city-owned property passed City Council at its Oct. 29 stated meeting and are now in Mayor Cherelle L. Parker's office, according to our records. One would put a long-term tenant in the Saucer building in Love Park. The other would lease about 21 acres of former landfill land near the airport to a union training fund for $1 a year.

Both affect places residents use or pass by. Each sets terms that run for years, and both moved quickly through Council this month.

The Saucer

Bill 260799, from 5th District Councilmember Jeffery Young Jr., lets the Department of Parks & Recreation sign a multiyear deal with Broad Street Love Park, LLC to design, build out and run a food and beverage business in the round glass building across from City Hall.

The building has sat mostly empty for years. A restaurant deal signed after a 2018 request for proposals fell apart, and a 2023 request drew no bids, PhillyVoice reported. This summer Parks & Recreation picked Broad Street Brewing, working with Rival Bros. Coffee and High Street Hospitality Group. A beer garden opened on the terrace in late June, and an indoor cafe and restaurant is expected around March 2027, the Inquirer reported.

The term sheet in the bill as introduced sets a five-year term counted from June 29, 2026, a city option to renew for five more, and a city right to end the deal without penalty after year four. It does not state the annual fee. The committee amended the bill Oct. 21; the amended version is posted on Legistar. Our earlier story has more on the terms.

The training center lease

Bill 260763, from Council President Kenyatta Johnson with Quetcy Lozada, leases the Victory Gardens and Emerson Landfill parcels near Fort Mifflin and Hog Island roads to the Philadelphia Authority for Industrial Development, which subleases them to the Operating Engineers' joint apprenticeship and training fund.

Under the bill text, the fund must clean up the land under the state's Act 2 program before building, pays $1 a year for 10 years with two possible five-year renewals, and must reserve at least 10% of its yearly apprentice openings for qualified Philadelphia residents. The city puts in no money. We found no news coverage of this bill. Our earlier story has the details.

What our records add

• Same fast track. Both bills were reported favorably by the Committee on Public Property and Public Works on Oct. 21 with a request to suspend the rules. Both got a first reading the next day, Oct. 22, and passed Oct. 29. The Saucer bill was introduced Oct. 1, so it went from introduction to passage in 28 days. The lease bill was introduced Sept. 24: 35 days.
• Roll calls not yet posted. Our record shows the final action date but not yet the member-by-member vote. We will update the bill pages when the city posts it.
• Other property bills passed with them. Council also passed three naming bills: Penrose Recreation Center becomes the Shirley M. Kitchen Recreation Center (260798); the Dorothy Emanuel playground building becomes the Marlene Trice Neighborhood Center (260638); and Girard Fountain Park becomes Janet Kalter Park (260567).
• One more Young lease bill. On Thursday Young also introduced Bill 260926, amending a city sublease with the Philadelphia Municipal Authority for space at 1600-26 John F. Kennedy Blvd. It goes to committee.

What's next

Under the Home Rule Charter, the mayor can sign a bill, veto it, or let it become law without signing it. On Oct. 27, Parker signed five bills Council passed Oct. 15, according to a letter read Thursday. In letters dated Oct. 29, she returned five other bills unsigned. Our story on those.