Beginnings and endings at the Philadelphia Navy Yard

(The Center Square) – While the Navy Yard in Philadelphia looks toward the future, a Pennsylvania brand which briefly made its home there is closing its doors.

On Thursday the Shapiro administration visited the Navy Yard to speak about a $30 million investment toward new development in the Greenway District through the Pennsylvania Strategic Investments to Enhance Sites, or PA SITES, program.

The investment will support roadway and utilities, soil excavation, grading, and stormwater management for six lots that are part of a much broader development plan headed up by joint venture Ensemble/Mosaic. The final product will be 9 million square feet of new construction over 109 acres in a mixed use district consisting of 4,000 apartments, lab and manufacturing spaces for life science companies, and retail space.

“This transformative investment from the Commonwealth’s innovative new PA SITES program strengthens the Navy Yard’s role as a powerful engine of job creation and economic growth throughout Philadelphia and Pennsylvania,” said Jodie Harris, president of the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation who awarded the development rights in 2020.

For the announcement, Gov. Josh Shapiro was joined by Department of Community and Economic Development Secretary Rick Siger and members of the legislature including Rep. Morgan Cephas, D-Philadelphia; Rep. Regina Young, D-Philadelphia; Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler, D-Philadelphia; and Sen. Nikil Saval, D-Philadelphia.

“The work here at our Navy Yard shows the successful reclamation of a heavily industrialized space,” said Saval. “This endeavor demonstrates the importance of — and demand for — development that fosters density, honors accessibility through walkable streets and public transit, and embraces design and infrastructure that enables communities to thrive for the long-term, even as our region faces extreme weather and rising sea levels.”

Yet, even as the Navy Yard’s revitalization offers promise to a space that once seemed unsalvageable, one Pennsylvania corporation stands as a reminder that not all business models are prepared to move into the future. On Monday, Rite Aid announced the closure of its Navy Yard headquarters.

The company, which was founded in Scranton, had just moved its headquarters to the Navy Yard in 2022. The pharmacy giant had been struggling to stay afloat for years, selling nearly 2,000 of its stores to Walgreens in 2017 and filing for bankruptcy in 2023.

Rite Aid has secured funding to maintain some of its pharmacies while transitioning customers elsewhere until its brick and mortar stores are completely sold and shuttered this year, but for many working at the corporate level, their employment came to an abrupt end.

The Center Square obtained a copy of a letter issued to employees entitled Re: Your Employment Status. It notified them of their termination and the company’s second bankruptcy filing.

“Since emerging from our financial restructuring process in September, our business has continued to experience financial challenges. Unfortunately, these challenges have only intensified as a result of the rapidly evolving healthcare and retail landscapes in which Rite Aid operates,” reads the letter from CEO Matthew Schroeder.

Part of the rapidly evolving landscape included the company’s own complicity in the opioid crisis that has devastated the city of Philadelphia and beyond. Last year, the company paid $7.5 million in civil fines and over $400 million in a settlement with the Department of Justice in its role allowing for the proliferation of “unnecessary prescriptions for powerful and addictive opioids.”

According to the WARN notice provided by the Department of Labor and Industry, 595 Philadelphia employees will lose their jobs next month, while an additional 501 were laid off at the company’s Etters offices in York County on Monday.

“We apologize that we were unable to provide more advance notice of this action,” reads the letter.