PHL Airport Is Seeking Legislation To Help It Buy More Land
Philadelphia International Airport is turning to government to assist in a land purchase it has been attempting to make for decades, for a neighboring 136-acre parcel.
PHL is owned by the Philadelphia city government, which has filed legislation in the City Council to make an official valuation of the property, known as Airport Business Center, owned by the Media-based Henderson Group. Deadlocked for years over the price, both sides told the Philadelphia Business Journal they welcome the valuation process to assist in the sale.
Should the legislation pass, and if Henderson Group declines to sell its parcel at the price suggested by review, the city plans to condemn the property and acquire it via eminent domain.
Airport Business Center has two flex office buildings on it, Ambassador I and Ambassador II, and Henderson Group has sued the city over them, claiming its public attempts to acquire and redevelop the property have hampered the company's ability to lease space in its buildings.
