South Philly industrial site is turning into a shopping center with groceries and fast food

South Philadelphia’s auto-centric retail hub that borders the Pennsport and Whitman neighborhoods is set to expand. A new shopping center at 16 Snyder Ave. will offer a grocery store, chain fast-food restaurants with outdoor dining, and an overhaul of a neighboring street.

Zoning permits show plans for six commercial buildings, covering more than 52,000 square feet, and 269 parking spaces. The documents filed with the city show tenants that include a Lidl discount supermarket, Advance Auto Parts, Chase Bank, Shake Shack, and the Louisiana fried chicken chain Raising Cane’s. The sixth building does not yet have a tenant.

The site is currently a rambling industrial complex, bordered on the northeast side by John’s Roast Pork, and lined with a confused tangle of trash-strewn roadways. To the south lies an Amazon last-mile delivery center, at 2400 Weccacoe Ave., and to the north is a shopping center with offerings that include an Acme and a Target.

“We always feel like commercial use retailers benefit from other surrounding neighborhood retailers,” said David Newman, who heads Mid-Atlantic operations for the Newman Development Group. (The site is being officially developed by NDA Swanson LLC. ) “Clearly there’s a lot of that across the street, so we feel like we fit really well into that.”

The block-long industrial complex is owned by the Inolex Chemical Co., which manufactures ingredients for cosmetics and other personal-care products. The company has been shifting its operations to North Carolina for years.

Neighborhood leaders with the Whitman Council are glad to see that something new is coming to the Inolex site, which they describe as “an eyesore” that in its heyday periodically permeated the neighborhood with noxious odors.

Inolex did not reply to a request for comment.

“They were never the best neighbors,” said Mark Kapczynski, president of the Whitman Council. “The development is a good idea to get rid of that almost vacant-type chemical plant. But as for the level of retail in our neighborhood, I think we have our share.”

There are still some Inolex office operations based at 16 Snyder Ave., according to neighborhood residents, but the days when the company employed many South Philadelphia residents are long gone. The jobs at the cosmetic manufacturer paid well and were organized under Teamsters Local 169. Kapczynski said the union jobs were one thing about the company’s presence that he will miss.

“I do like the industrial part where you can potentially have jobs that will support families and careers rather than just a cashier at a retail location,” he said.

The developer has agreed not to place any nightclubs or “nuisance bars” in the shopping center, according to zoning lawyer Ron Patterson. The site will have environmental remediation, and Swanson Street will be re-engineered by the Streets Department to accommodate the new use.

“It’s kind of a bizarre street right now, wider in some places and narrower in others, and it isn’t well-kept,” Patterson said.

Swanson will be changed to a standard 100-foot wide right-of-way, including sidewalks, which the road does not currently have, and a stormwater management system. Patterson also noted that Raising Cane and Shake Shack would both have outdoor seating.

The project will require no zoning exceptions because Councilmember Mark Squilla remapped the area earlier this year to allow industrial or commercial uses.

Separated from residential areas by I-95, this section of South Philadelphia has been increasingly dominated by commercial interests as industrial businesses have closed or moved away. To the north is Snyder Plaza, home to the Acme and Target. To the southeast is Columbus Commons and its Best Buy and Ikea, while to the northeast is Columbus Crossing with Home Depot and Walmart.

The new shopping center at the Inolex site is Newman’s first project in Philadelphia. The city is a natural target for expansion, said Newman, whose company operates across several Northeastern states.

“There’s so much growth that’s going on,” he said. “We just think it’s so well-located, it’s really a perfect redevelopment site. … We believe it’s going to be a [strong local consumer] community base.”