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  • King of Prussia data center complex is rejected by Upper Merion Township officials

    King of Prussia data center complex is rejected by Upper Merion Township officials

    The Upper Merion Township Board of Supervisors unanimously rejected a proposed 5-million-square-foot AI data-center campus that had sparked pushback from residents, a lawsuit from the developer, and accusations of mistreatment and intimidation.

    After the decision was made at a Thursday night meeting, some in the crowd applauded, danced, and high-fived one another. The rejection came after three hours of fiery exchanges between the developer, Brian O’Neill, and township officials.

    O’Neill and his team said they were prepared to go over each of the township’s comments about his five proposed sites in the King of Prussia area. But officials said it was too little, too late, and asked if O’Neill’s team was “filibustering.”

    “Are you asking us to not present those facts in defense of those plans when it’s clear all you want to do is deny our plan and go home tonight?” said O’Neill. He later said township officials were violating state and local planning codes, an allegation they denied.

    “Your attempt here to lecture us is considered an intimidation. And I don’t want to see our professional staff bullied or coerced,” said William Jenaway, vice chair of the Upper Merion Township Board of Supervisors. “Intimidation, coercion and bullying are not good qualities in a professional leader.”

    O’Neill, a longtime real-estate developer, has recently turned his sights to data centers. He first proposed building one of the controversial cloud-storage facilities in nearby Plymouth Township. In Upper Merion, he wants to build a data center complex on five properties in the township’s Swedeland section, a small residential and industrial area between West Conshohocken and Bridgeport.

    A map of the proposed data centers in Upper Merion and Plymouth TownshipsJohn Duchneskie

    Those projects aren’t dead: O’Neill can appeal the board’s denial, as chair Tina Garzillo told him Thursday.

    “Don’t you worry about that,” said O’Neill, before walking out of the Upper Merion Area Middle School auditorium to a chorus of boos.

    The board’s decision came after months of contention and a whirlwind two days of legal back-and-forth.

    O’Neill on Wednesday sued the township, its planning commission, and its board of supervisors, saying they violated his legal right to an extension and treated him unfairly during the development review process. Soon after, Montgomery County Court Judge Garrett D. Page ordered the township to halt proceedings and decisions related to the data centers until a hearing next week.

    Citing the ruling, Edmund J. Campbell, an attorney for O’Neill, declined to make a presentation on two of the five proposed data-center sites at an Upper Merion Township Planning Commission meeting on Wednesday night.

    Human reporters explain why AI data centers are so controversial in the Philly suburbs and beyond

    Late Thursday afternoon, however, Page vacated his previous order, allowing the township board of supervisors to proceed with its meeting as planned. On the agenda: A vote on O’Neill’s request for an extension until Sept. 30, and votes on the five proposed data centers.

    After an hour of public comment, all but one of which was from residents opposing the data centers, the township’s board of supervisors voted to deny O’Neill’s extension requests. The board then moved on to vote on the land development plans for each of the five sites.

    One by one, the plans were denied unanimously by the five-person board.

    Each vote was met with loud cheers from attendees.

    For months, residents have rallied against O’Neill’s plans, packing township meetings and putting up bright orange lawn signs opposing the projects. About 18,000 people had signed a Change.org petition against the Upper Merion data centers as of Thursday. Some neighbors have expressed concerns about pollution, light, noise, electricity prices, property values, and quality of life.

    Upper Merion residents opposed to the data centers have put up these lawn signs.Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer

    “I’m really proud to stand here tonight with each and every other concerned resident,” Courtney Smith said Thursday. “We all have something important here to fight for.”

    “The people here are here because they care deeply about the long-term interest of our communities,” Montgomery County Commissioner Neil K. Makhija said during his comments in opposition of the plan. The commissioner said the supervisors’ decision would have ramifications beyond the county, as communities across the region and the country weigh data-center development.

    O’Neil has said his data centers would benefit Upper Merion and “change the world for the better.” While the developer has declined to specify who exactly would operate the centers, he has indicated the facilities would use AI-powered biotech in conjunction with his existing life-sciences complex, Discovery Labs.

    One of the sites where Brian O’Neill wanted to build a data center in Upper Merion.Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer

    O’Neill has said his data centers would comply with the highest environmental standards, emitting little light and noise. They would operate on a closed-loop system, requiring no outside water, he said, and provide their own power.

    The developer has also said they’d be an economic boon to the area. Last week, he released an economic impact study that said the Upper Merion centers would result in more than 10,000 jobs during its construction and then generate more than $55 million a year in local tax revenue.

    At Thursday’s board of supervisors meeting, however, Upper Merion Township Tax Collector Evelyn Ankers disputed those figures, and said O’Neill has failed to pay taxes on his properties in the past.

    Across the Schuylkill, a data-center fight rages on between O’Neill and some residents of Plymouth Township, where the developer wants to build a 2-million-square-foot facility on a shuttered steel mill outside Conshohocken.

    The developer recently filed a legal challenge to the Plymouth Township zoning ordinance, and has exchanged accusations of mistreatment with township leaders. News of O’Neill’s actions in Plymouth Township prompted a rebuke from Gov. Josh Shapiro, who had previously encouraged data center development in the commonwealth.

    A date has not been set for the next Plymouth Township meeting, though officials indicated it would be sometime in September.

  • A new federal ‘Data Center Bill of Rights’ took lessons from Philly suburbs and Western Pa. fracking country

    A new federal ‘Data Center Bill of Rights’ took lessons from Philly suburbs and Western Pa. fracking country

    WASHINGTON — A new federal proposal to enact protections for communities opposed to the proliferation of data centers has drawn inspiration from both the Philadelphia suburbs and Western Pennsylvania fracking country.

    The Data Center Bill of Rights is one of several national efforts to address a growing dissatisfaction with data centers, which have so far faced few restrictions at either the federal or state level in Pennsylvania.

    U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat and Bucks County native considering running for president in 2028, said his home state should be doing more.

    He introduced the federal legislation after a recent tour across Pennsylvania that he said was designed to hear from communities that have lost manufacturing jobs and other economic opportunities.

    Data center concerns came up more than any other issue, he said — leading him to incorporate new ideas into the bill he already had in the works, and to call for a pause on data center development in Pennsylvania until further protections and local controls are enacted.

    A statewide pause would be more than what Gov. Josh Shapiro — another potential 2028 Democratic contender — has proposed as he seeks to enact data center guidelines. It would also be less than other Democrats, both in Pennsylvania and nationally, who have called for more robust moratoriums. Shapiro’s Republican challenger this year, Treasurer Stacy Garrity, has also called for a pause but not for an extended moratorium.

    “I was surprised by the anger about it in Pennsylvania,” Khanna said in an interview after his 15-county tour. “In other states, people are sometimes opposed in local communities, local pockets. But not this widespread anger.”

    Khanna, a Council Rock High School graduate who has represented Silicon Valley in Congress since 2017, spoke about the Data Center Bill of Rights during his tour but said afterward that it was “partly inspired” by the concerns he heard in the communities similar to the ones where he grew up.

    He said he was alarmed by the complaints he heard outside Philadelphia, where five data centers have been proposed in close proximity to each other in King of Prussia and another 2-million-square-foot data center is proposed in Conshohocken.

    “As a kid, I used to go to Conshohocken and the King of Prussia Mall. I’m familiar with that area,” Khanna said. “You can’t ride roughshod over what Delaware County wants or when Montgomery County wants.”

    The legislation would declare that communities have the right to reject data centers through a “transparent community process” or allow them with specific protections. That includes demanding that data centers don’t lead to higher electricity rates, that they use renewable energy sources and disclose their water consumption, and “pay their fair share of state and local taxes.”

    State Rep. Chris Rabb (right) joins U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna (left) Tuesday, July 28, 2026, as he stops on his “Made in PA: New Economic Patriotism Tour” at the City Institute Library on Rittenhouse Square.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

    One specific provision, Khanna said, was informed by his visit in Washington County with individuals who are paid to host natural gas wells on their properties. It was there that he said he learned of community demands for oil and gas well sites to be at least 2,500 feet from residences. That buffer was a recommendation from a 2020 grand jury report released by Shapiro when he was serving as attorney general and that outlined health and safety issues caused by fracking in the Marcellus Shale region.

    The recommendation was not followed, and advocates are continuing to push for extending the buffer from the current distance of 500 feet, according to Inside Climate News.

    Khanna’s bill of rights would call for data centers to be built no closer than 2,500 feet from residences, schools, childcare facilities, hospitals or nursing homes. He said the environmental and health hazards for data centers aren’t the same as fracking but they should be kept at a distance from communities that don’t want to live directly next to them.

    “At least they were offering royalty checks in the cases of fracking,” Khanna said. “[Data center developers are] not even giving the communities checks. It’s just kind of like, ‘OK, we’re going to build.’ What does the community get out of it? I literally don’t understand it.”

    Data center advocates have argued their development is critical in winning an artificial intelligence war with China, and that they will bring construction and some skilled jobs to communities that need them.

    Even the staunchest advocates, though, have acknowledged the public blowback.

    “I do think that data centers in Pennsylvania have raised legitimate concerns,” U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick (R., Pa.) said during a recent telephone town hall as he continued to promote them in the competition with China and their creation of “thousands of jobs.”

    When developers are making their pitch, McCormick said they should come with commitments to protect energy costs and overuse of water, use local labor, invest in the community and pay taxes.

    “That should be part of the deal up front,” McCormick said during the telephone town hall in late July. “With all those facts, then the local community can decide whether they want the data center or not. And if they choose not to, that’s their choice.”

    Khanna said he’s hoping for bipartisan support as he introduces the bill of rights idea. He’ll also be competing with other proposals — like one from fellow progressives U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) called the AI Data Center Moratorium Act. The bill would enact an immediate federal moratorium on data center construction until other safeguards are passed into law, including some of the ideas Khanna and McCormick have proposed, like around utility costs.

    Pa. state lawmakers found common ground on this data center policy — but still couldn’t reach a deal

    Several Pennsylvania state-level laws have been proposed, though the legislature did not address them during its busy budget season earlier this spring and summer. Lawmakers also left Harrisburg without ending tax breaks aimed at incentivizing data center construction even though the idea had garnered widespread support.

    “They shouldn’t be getting these tax breaks to build,” Khanna said. “That’s absurd when you’ve got hyperscalers that are making trillions of dollars.”

    The fact that many of those ultra-wealthy corporations are based in his district made the issue a politically dicey situation for him, but also one that the possible presidential hopeful said he was willing to take on.

    “We’ve got to pause it in states like Pennsylvania,” Khanna said. “Some of my own constituents aren’t going to like that.”

  • This tween could have met Jalen Hurts. Instead, he used his Make-A-Wish to host a carnival for a homeless shelter

    This tween could have met Jalen Hurts. Instead, he used his Make-A-Wish to host a carnival for a homeless shelter

    On a mild April day, 12-year-old Sam Okyere reviewed his wish list with his mom during their drive to the Make-A-Wish Foundation’s Bala Cynwyd office.

    First choice: Legoland and Disney World.

    Second choice: meeting Eagles Jalen Hurts and Saquon Barkley.

    Third choice: hanging out with Philly rapper Lil Uzi Vert.

    But when Sam, his mom, and two members of the Make-A-Wish crew squeezed into the office’s tiny Lego-themed room for the official discussion, something different flashed to mind.

    “I want to help the homeless,” Sam told them.

    Sam has sickle cell disease. He’s endured a lifetime in and out of hematologists’ offices, white-knuckling through blood transfusions and bursting into hospitals when “pain crises,” agonizing sensations caused by disruption in the blood flow, tore through his body. This was his chance to do one completely selfish thing, and he chose to be selfless.

    “Are you sure this is what you want to do?” Maude Gambrah, Sam’s mom, asked as she started the car to drive them home to Drexel Hill. She knew Sam had a soft spot for homeless people. He was always encouraging her to give money to panhandlers around Philly. But this was his only wish.

    “Yeah, Mommy,” he responded. “This is what I want to do.”

    Make-A-Wish settled on Families Forward Philadelphia, a homeless shelter in West Philly, as the recipient of Sam’s wish and hosted a monthlong donation drive for the facility leading up to “Sam’s Perfect Day” last month. The carnival-style extravaganza on the shelter’s front lawn, attended by dozens of families experiencing homelessness as well as Sam and his family, featured Lego displays, a petting zoo, a Lego-inspired bounce castle, and water ice provided by Sam’s family’s Southwest Philly water ice business, Willkay’s.

    Making a wish a reality

    Word of the wish quickly spread around the office of Make-A-Wish Philadelphia, Delaware, & Susquehanna Valley following the April meeting. Anika Goyal, one of the staffers responsible for carrying out wishes, knew this one had to be hers.

    The chapter, which grants about 335 wishes a year, regularly fulfills shopping sprees, vacations to Disney World, and room makeovers, but it rarely gets one like Sam’s, Goyal said.

    So Goyal got to work. Sam emphasized that helping homeless children, specifically, was important to him, so Goyal selected Families Forward as the beneficiary shelter because it emphasizes keeping families intact during their stays.

    She reached out to small businesses and nonprofits — as many as she could find that also had Make-A-Wish connections. Oshun Family Center, which Goyal asked to host a table on Black maternal health and to distribute childcare kits, was founded by a mom of a Make-A-Wish recipient. Jam-Rock Kitchen, a local Jamaican restaurant owned by another Make-A-Wish family, slathered up their jerk chicken and spiced up their rice and peas for the big day.

    Goyal also looped in staff at the King of Prussia Lego store, a former contestant on the reality TV competition series LEGO Masters, and Swoop, the Philadelphia Eagles mascot, to make the event quintessentially Sam.

    Alana Deluca, manager at King of Prussia’s Lego store, talks to Sam Okyere, 12, during his Make-A-Wish donation drive and block party.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer

    “It’s not about him,” Goyal said. “But it is about him.”

    As Goyal and the Make-A-Wish team prepared the logistics, Sam contended with a life-altering decision. Sickle cell can be treated through a bone marrow transplant. The ideal donor is a sibling who is a match. Will Okyere, Sam’s 25-year-old brother, was. So Sam and his family scheduled a transplant for the end of August. The process starts with chemotherapy and ends with in-home isolation for several months, requiring Sam to miss most of his seventh-grade year with his friends.

    “It’s a bummer,” Sam said. “But, it’s like, anything to get me better.”

    “I just want to get sickle cell over and done with,” he added.

    Sam Okyere, 12, hanging out with his friend Mosiah Saddick, 12, during Sam’s Perfect Day at Families Forward Philadelphia homeless shelter.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer

    While sickle cell disease is not inherently fatal, it can increase the risk of life-threatening infections, acute chest syndrome, stroke, and chronic organ damage, particularly without medications or interventions such as a bone marrow transplant or gene therapy.

    Cynthia Norris, Sam’s attending hematologist at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, who referred Sam for the wish, said he stood out among all her eligible patients because he has the most severe variation of the disease and has had a number of complications. His grace and thoughtfulness, she said, also set him apart.

    “He’s just a very special young man,” Norris said. “He has so much empathy.”

    Sam Okyere, 12, with his dad Akwasi Okyere, Delaware Blue Coats mascot Coaty, and Philadelphia Eagles mascot Swoop during Sam’s Perfect Day Make-A-Wish donation drive and block party at Families Forward Philadelphia homeless shelter.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer

    Living out a perfect day

    After months of waiting and preparation, Sam’s Perfect Day finally arrived.

    Shiny new yellow, red, and blue soccer balls and Hula-Hoops lined the main hall of the Families Forward office building. Tubs along the mirroring wall brimmed with sunscreen bottles, toothbrushes, and soap. A giant poster sandwiched in the middle bore Sam’s likeness in Lego form — tiny Afro and all.

    Some of the donations for Sam Okyere’s Perfect Day Make-A-Wish donation drive and block party.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer

    Families Forward could never have afforded this bounty on its own, said Jessica Main, the nonprofit’s chief development officer. Grant money the shelter receives is often tied to specific types of services like mental health and education. Its budget for toys and recreational materials is around $3,000 annually, Main estimated. That would probably barely cover the glimmering new basketball hoop and sports equipment Sam’s donation drive brought in.

    Sam Okyere, 12, with his sister, Kayla, at the petting zoo during his Make-A-Wish donation drive and block party at Families Forward Philadelphia homeless shelter.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer

    Sam nestled into a blue canvas chair in the petting zoo as two goats nibbled food out of Dixie cups he held in each hand.

    “I’m naming this one Ashton,” Sam announced to no one in particular, looking at a brown and white goat.

    “Food! Anybody want food,” he shouted to the tiny goats (one wearing a feathered bowler hat), bunnies, and one black pig that dragged its rotund paunch on the ground wherever it went.

    Sam Okyere, 12, is holding Penelope the pig at the petting zoo during his Make-A-Wish donation drive and block party at Families Forward Philadelphia homeless shelter in Philadelphia, Pa., on Wednesday, July 29, 2026.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer

    “Zane, Kai, Lloyd,” he said, pointing at two goats and then the pig, naming all after characters on his favorite show Ninjago, which the uninitiated will be unsurprised to learn is a show about Legos.

    Soon a 3-year-old named Saga, wearing a white dress smattered with images of heart-shaped lollipops, entered the petting zoo enclosure, mouth agape as she stood eye-to-eye with the recently named Ashton the goat and gently patted the silver nubs on either side of its bony head. This was her first experience with farm animals.

    Her mother, Quechera Jowers, 32, followed closely. The pair have lived at the shelter for about four months.

    “I’m not going to lie, it’s a little nostalgic,” Jowers said, taking in the carnival sights as they waited in line for cotton candy, which, based on crystallized red formations encrusted around Saga’s mouth, it appeared she’d already indulged in.

    Throughout the afternoon, gleaming toddler cheeks transformed into butterfly wings, kitten whiskers, and dragon scales with face paint. Pink and purple beads were strung into friendship bracelets, and technicolor swimsuits (each child got one through Sam’s donation drive) grew soaked from a sprinkler raining down on the kids as they descended an inflatable slide adjoined to the bounce castle. Navigating the pipe system of the old converted asylum-turned-shelter facility was the challenge of the morning, Main said.

    Beyoncé blared from a portable DJ booth, chubby fingers grasped balloons on strings and absentmindedly released them into the stratosphere, and a topless toddler with wild curls boogied near the mouth of a bubble machine, a diaper band peeking out from his khaki shorts.

    Sam Okyere, 12, is trying out the DJ set with Nashirah Felder, of Fishtown, during his Perfect Day Make-A-Wish donation drive and block party at Families Forward Philadelphia homeless shelter in Philadelphia, Pa., on Wednesday, July 29, 2026.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer

    Sam, meanwhile, alternated between the Lego games, petting zoo, and basketball station.

    After discreetly lowering his game controller in the middle of a Lego joust, allowing a friend to overtake his spacecraft and win the game, Sam sauntered over to the goats situated in a kennel in the back of a truck to bid them farewell.

    Sam Okyere, 12, plays against Corey Samuels, 41, of Princeton, N.J., a LEGO Masters winner, during his Make-A-Wish donation drive and block party at Families Forward Philadelphia homeless shelter in Philadelphia, Pa., on Wednesday, July 29, 2026.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer

    “I don’t want them to leave,” he mused as he delicately scratched a tan one on the chin and, with an understated graciousness rare to find in adults, let alone children, allowed the petting zoo staff to take them away.

    As the afternoon drew to a close, Sam settled into a chair in the hallway full of donations and futzed with a small Lego vehicle. An event organizer informed him that the Lego store employees offered to gift him all the leftover toys. Sam politely declined and requested they instead be given to the kids at the shelter.

    Asked in the final moments what could have made Sam’s Perfect Day more perfect, he contemplated.

    “Nothing,” he resolved.

    Nothing at all.

  • A sports complex in King of Prussia? Here’s why Upper Merion says it makes sense

    A sports complex in King of Prussia? Here’s why Upper Merion says it makes sense

    Upper Merion Township wants to build a sports and entertainment venue in King of Prussia, and has been looking to get state funding for the project.

    The facility, which as proposed could host over 7,500 people, could be used by professional soccer and baseball teams as well as for concerts, festivals, graduations, and other community gatherings, according to a grant application seeking funding from the state.

    “There is still extensive preliminary work that needs to be discussed and developed,” Tina Garzillo, chair of the township’s board of supervisors, said via email on Monday, noting that “there is nothing definitive,” at this time about the project.

    The venue has been envisioned for Moore Park area, near hotels, housing, the Valley Forge Casino Resort, and a Topgolf. The proposed address on a state grant application is 650 Park Ave., but Garzillo said that is only “only one of several identified possible sites.”

    Garzillo did not say what teams could be expected to lease out the stadium, but the venue’s capacity is in the ballpark of other minor league baseball venues. The Lehigh Valley IronPigs play at Coca-Cola Park, which can host roughly 8,000 seated spectators, and the Brooklyn Cyclones play at Maimonides Park, which can seat roughly 7,000, with additional standing room.

    “The facility will serve as a catalyst for converting a traditional office park into a vibrant mixed-use district,” the grant application notes. “This transformation is especially important in a post-COVID world, as communities adapt to new work patterns and the decline of single-use office environments.”

    The DeVonta Smith & Friends celebrity softball game at Coca-Cola Park in Allentown on June 10, 2023.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer

    What would it cost?

    The proposed project would cost an estimated $197 million, which the township wants to fund through state, township, and county dollars as well as private contributions.

    The township applied for a $20 million grant through Pennsylvania’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program, but the project was not selected in the latest round of funding.

    The township is currently evaluating other funding options, Garzillo said, and does not currently have a new application in the works for the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program.

    The program receives hundreds of applications in each funding cycle, and the majority do not get awarded, said Rosie Lapowsky, a spokesperson for Gov. Josh Shapiro’s office. Not receiving funding “is not a commentary on their value as projects or any potential future engagement from the state,” Lapowsky added.

    The funding application to the state program noted that the project includes “walkable connections, shared parking, and high visibility along major regional highways, positioning it as an anchor for ongoing redevelopment of the area into a dynamic ‘live, work, play,’ destination.”

    The development of the venue would create 3,196 jobs, according to the application. It does not specify what positions would be needed, and if some of those jobs would be temporary, for the construction of the site.

    The venue is also expected to create revenue through taxes, naming rights, corporate sponsorships, and other branding deals, the application notes.

    Those leading the project say they have been in touch with county and state elected officials as well as members of Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration, noting that “these discussions highlighted the project’s alignment with state priorities and its anticipated benefits to the Commonwealth, including economic growth and community impact.”

    Upper Merion Township is interested in adding entertainment options to the area, said Garzillo, citing the success of nearby attractions such as Topgolf; the casino; Netflix House, which opened in November at King of Prussia Mall; and Dave & Buster’s.

    Exterior entrance to Netflix House at the King of Prussia Mall.Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer

    As part of its effort to bring more entertainment options to the area, the township has changed the zoning language for the King of Prussia Mall to allow entertainment venues to occupy retail spaces, Garzillo noted.

    The King of Prussia District, a nonprofit focused on economic development in the area, declined to comment on the project.

  • 18 new restaurants that opened in the Philly suburbs this summer

    18 new restaurants that opened in the Philly suburbs this summer

    An eclectic crop of new restaurants has opened over the last several months across the Philadelphia suburbs in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. Some — like the three sports bars in Camden County alone — are breathing new life into familiar addresses. Others mark ambitious first ventures.

    Here are 18 of them, from Phoenixville to Gloucester Township to Wilmington.

    Pennsylvania

    Academy Grill (424 S. Bethlehem Pike, Fort Washington): Michael Sloane and Jay Rosenthal’s group, Fine Line Dining, has transformed the former Cantina Feliz into a polished white-tablecloth destination. Jeffrey Power, longtime chef at the erstwhile Dettera in Ambler, oversees a menu of house-made pasta, seafood, and steaks.

    Bluebird Distilling has reopened with a new neo-Neapolitan pizzeria and restaurant.Photos courtesy of Ed Newton

    Bluebird Distilling & Dough House (100 Bridge St., Phoenixville): Bluebird Distilling has expanded its flagship into a full restaurant built around cocktails and neo-Neapolitan pizza. Chef Devon Migeot, formerly of Zahav and Laser Wolf, makes dough with Italian stone-ground flour and bakes bread in-house. The $2.2 million renovation also added an expanded bar and dining room.

    Noah Clifford (left) and Sofia Siano working the pastry case at the Buttery in Bryn Mawr.Allie Ippolito / For The Inquirer

    The Buttery Bryn Mawr (836 W. Lancaster Ave., Bryn Mawr): The Malvern bakery-cafe opened its Main Line expansion with 82 indoor seats and daily service from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. The menu includes sourdough breads, pastries, Turkish eggs (poached eggs cooked in garlicky yogurt with a drizzle of spicy butter), sandwiches, and seasonal lunch dishes, plus grab-and-go foods after the kitchen closes at 3 p.m.

    Cleavers (103 Squire Dr., Newtown Square): The Center City cheesesteak shop grand-opened its second location last month at Ellis Preserve, offering cheesesteaks, chicken cheesesteaks, burgers, sandwiches, fries, and milkshakes.

    The Coffee Station (1117 Smithbridge Rd., Glen Mills): The Delaware County breakfast-and-lunch operator took over the former Meghan’s Restaurant, which had occupied the building for 27 years. The menu includes omelets, pancakes, breakfast sandwiches, burgers, hoagies, wraps, soups, and salads. Other locations are in Morton and Garnet Valley.

    Tabletop and tableside cooking are offered at Ogyu Japanese BBQ.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer

    Ogyu Japanese BBQ & Bar (60 Greenfield Ave., Ardmore): Restaurateur Sam Li’s upscale yakiniku restaurant occupies the former Iron Hill Brewery. Customers grill premium Wagyu and other meats on tabletop burners, choosing from fixed-price packages or à la carte selections. The dramatically remodeled space includes black-and-gold finishes, marble-paneled walls, a large bar, and private dining rooms.

    Upper Darby’s Tina Fey offers Jimmy Fallon a slice of Pica’s pizza on the “Tonight” show in 2014.Lloyd Bishop / NBC

    Pica’s Italian Market (1101 Sussex Blvd., Broomall): After closing its landmark Upper Darby dining room earlier this year, the Pica family soft-opened this mostly takeout shop in a Delco light-industrial park, carrying the restaurant’s signature square pizzas, sandwiches, prepared foods, and other Italian specialties. Pica’s, which hit the national radar in 2014 when locally raised Tina Fey sampled its pizza on the Tonight show, traces its roots to Frank Pica Sr.’s West Philadelphia pizzeria. There’s a West Chester location, too.

    P.J. Whelihan’s (2920 S. Eagle Rd., Newtown): The regional sports-bar chain took over the former Iron Hill Brewery at the Village at Newtown with its signature wings, burgers, sandwiches, salads, and American entrees, backed by numerous televisions and a broad draft-beer selection. Most of Iron Hill’s existing layout was retained.

    Pomelo Rooftop Terrace at the Brandywine, 165 King of Prussia Rd., King of Prussia.The Brandywine

    Pomelo Rooftop Terrace (165 King of Prussia Rd., Radnor): This expansive rooftop bar and lounge atop The Brandywine hotel in Radnor (with 136 seats, inside and out) will grand-open Aug. 8 with chef Michael Davies’ menu of shareable plates (e.g. oysters, scallop crudo, a smash burger, grilled branzino, lion’s mane mushroom cake), raw bar, botanical-focused cocktails, wine, and beer. Weekend brunch begins Aug. 22.

    Porter (34 E. Butler Ave., Ambler): This newcomer is in the former Gypsy Blu space on the first floor of Ambler’s historic former Wyndham Hotel, offering contemporary American cooking in a candlelit, vintage-inspired dining room. Menu includes oysters, pasta, risotto, seafood, and meat dishes. Gaslight, a separate craft-cocktail bar with small plates, is upstairs.

    Rick’s Tavern (201 W. Seventh Ave., Conshohocken): Chef Derek Davis runs the show at Rick and Gale Mahoney’s modern tavern on the rebuilt site of Pizza Time Saloon and Old Time Saloon. The two-story restaurant honors those neighborhood institutions with wood-fired pizza while adding house-made pasta, cocktails, private-event space, and live music upstairs on Friday and Saturday nights.

    The bar at the Scratch Kitchen by Gallo’s, 575 Horsham Rd, Horsham.Michael Klein / Staff

    The Scratch Kitchen at Gallo’s (575 Horsham Rd., Horsham): The Harvey family, owners of Gallo’s Seafood in Northeast Philadelphia, is behind this casual, roomy neighborhood restaurant in the former Farm & Fisherman Tavern. Chef Bob DeLange, the owners’ son-in-law, combines seafood dishes from Gallo’s with burgers and bar food inspired by Harv’s Burger Bar, Gallo’s adjoining Northeast Philadelphia tavern.

    The exterior of 333 Belrose in Radnor’s St. Davids’ area.Allie Ippolito / For The Inquirer

    333 Belrose (333 Belrose Lane, Radnor): The longstanding contemporary American restaurant has reopened under chef Ross Essner after an extensive renovation that flipped the positions of the bar and main dining room.

    Yume Sushi in the Shoppes at English Village, 1460 Bethlehem Pike, North Wales.Michael Klein / Staff

    Yume Sushi (1460 Bethlehem Pike, North Wales): This Japanese restaurant has opened in the Shoppes at English Village, down the row from Trader Joe’s. Co-owner and head chef Kevin Wan brings about a decade of sushi experience to the venture. The menu centers on sushi, sashimi, rolls, and Japanese-Asian fusion dishes.

    New Jersey

    Flying Pig Tavern & Tap (1300 Blackwood-Clementon Rd., Gloucester Township): The sprawling former Favorites off-track-betting building has come up as the fifth unit in a growing group. Menu of pizzas, burgers, wings, tacos, and entrees shares billing with live bands, darts, shuffleboard, and a covered tiki bar. A sixth location is planned for the former Andalusia Bar & Grill space in Bensalem.

    Home Team Tavern (267 S. Black Horse Pike, Mount Ephraim): Greg D’Alesio has turned the former Mount Ephraim Bar & Grill into a compact, sports-themed neighborhood tavern. Its scratch kitchen serves pizzas, burgers, wings, sandwiches, and elevated bar food, alongside draft cocktails and beer.

    Thirsty Turtle Tavern (270 White Horse Pike, Barrington): This new concept from SAS Restaurant Group in the former Chuck Lager space features an open kitchen, burgers, pizza, sushi, cocktails, draft beer, and an outdoor patio behind garage doors. It operates daily; weekday happy hour and weekend brunch are expected to begin in the fall.

    Delaware

    Ezme (625 N. Market St., Wilmington): Chef Antimo DiMeo and the Bardea Restaurant Group opened this coastal Mediterranean restaurant across from Bardea Food & Drink. Inspired by cuisine from Turkey, Greece, and the Aegean coast, the menu encompasses mezze, raw-bar dishes, handmade breads, grilled seafood, and fire-driven preparations accented with herbs, citrus, and spices. Both à la carte and tasting-menu formats are available.

  • 333 Belrose is back with a new look and the same popular nachos

    333 Belrose is back with a new look and the same popular nachos

    Radnor’s 333 Belrose shut down in June 2025 for what was billed as a six- or seven-month renovation.

    But when the January target came and went, chef Ross Essner said, regulars would show up at the door to ask the same two questions: “First, they wanted to know when we would reopen and then, ‘Will the nachos return?’”

    The answers: late June, and yes.

    The Main Line mainstay, which opened off King of Prussia Road in the St. Davids section in 1999, reopened in late June after an extensive renovation that rearranged its dining rooms and enlarged the bar.

    Capano Management, which acquired the property in December 2022, initially expected the work to take only a few months. But early in the project, Essner said, designer Barbara Gisel of Haverford proposed flipping the layout, turning the dining room into a larger, dark-toned bar with 13 seats, a backlit wall of spirits, and a poster of Keith Richards, while converting the old bar into a bright dining room. “It ended up opening the whole space,” Essner said. “Now the bar is the focal point when you walk in.”

    That dining room, boasting a vaulted, paneled ceiling, white millwork, and divided-light windows, and a checkerboard wood floor, has the feel of an updated country house. Woven chairs, pale tabletops, sculptural floral chandeliers, and contemporary artwork modernize the historic shell without hiding its character. The patio spills out from the bar through full-length doors.

    Customers dine at the bar inside 333 Belrose in St. Davids on Thursday, July 23, 2026.Allie Ippolito / For The Inquirer

    The 3,870-square-foot building was once used as a stable where lore holds that George Washington once watered his horse.

    Essner, also Capano’s director of hospitality, described the menu as American food with occasional international influences. “Our goal isn’t Michelin stars or accolades,” he said. “The food is approachable. Nothing too cerebral, nothing too crazy. We want to be good enough for the neighborhood every day, but also nice enough that you can come here to celebrate something.”

    Entrées ($29 to $46) include goat-cheese gnocchi with short rib and horseradish cream, steak frites, black cod with mashed potatoes, a cowboy pork chop, and a long-bone short rib. Desserts include crème brûlée, peanut-butter mousse with chocolate ganache, and a warm skillet cookie with coffee-toffee ice cream.

    Shellfish cobb salad at 333 Belrose.Allie Ippolito / For The Inquirer

    And yes, the nachos are back. Layered with black beans, house-made lime and chipotle cremas, pickled jalapeños, cheddar, Colby Jack, guacamole, pico de gallo, tomatillo salsa, a Cooper Sharp sauce infused with peppers, and cotija, they remain one of the restaurant’s signatures. They were landing on table after table during a recent dinner service. “We would never take this off,” Essner said.

    The company, which also owns such Delaware restaurants as Columbus Inn and Charcoal Pit, views Belrose as a long-term investment rather than a project expected to produce an immediate return, Essner said. “The goal is to be here for the next 20 years.”

    333 Belrose, 333 Belrose Lane, St. Davids. Hours: 5 to 9 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday.

    A previous edition of this article misstated chef Ross Essner’s title.

  • Shakira, Tim McGraw, Jill Scott, and Connor Barwin’s Make the World Better concerts are highlights of a busy Philly music weekend

    Shakira, Tim McGraw, Jill Scott, and Connor Barwin’s Make the World Better concerts are highlights of a busy Philly music weekend

    Philly music this week features Connor Barwin’s Make the World Better Concert Weekend at the Dell, four nights with Jill Scott at the Met, Tim McGraw in Camden, Shakira in Atlantic City, the Disco Biscuits in King of Prussia, and Shinedown in South Philly. And more.

    Thursday, July 23

    Man Man

    Philly-born and Los Angeles-based experimental rock band Man Man — fronted by Ryan Kattner, who performs as Honus Honus — is playing a hometown show. Man Man’s most recent album, Carrot on Strings, came out in 2024, but the band has a new single, “So It Goes,” that found its audience through the video game Cyberpunk 2077. Also, Kattner — who has two children with Crazy Rich Asians actress Constance Wu — plays an undead bass player in the AMC series The Vampire Chronicles. Death Valley Girls opens. 8:30 p.m., Underground Arts, 1200 Callowhill St., undergroundarts.org

    Tim McGraw is playing the Freedom Mortgage Pavilion in Camden on Thursday.Courtesy of the Artist

    Tim McGraw

    Did Tim McGraw perform at Taylor Swift’s wedding? And if he did, did he sing “Tim McGraw”? We don’t know because, remarkably, the omertà code of silence remains intact about what happened during the Swift-Travis Kelce nuptials. We do know, however, that the country star will be singing in Camden, and along with including his recent singles “Pawn Shop Guitar” and “Song for America,” he will probably wear a Phillies jersey in honor of his famous father, Tug. 8 p.m., Freedom Mortgage Pavilion, 1 Harbour Place, Camden, freedommortgagepavilion.com.

    Brent Smith and Zach Meyers of Shinedown perform during the Pierre Robert Show of Life concert on Dec. 17, 2025, at the Fillmore. (Photo by William Thomas Cain/CAIN IMAGES for WMMR)William Thomas Cain/CAIN IMAGES for WMMR

    Shinedown

    Shinedown singer Brent Smith and guitarist Zach Myers performed as a duo in December at the Fillmore memorial concert for Pierre Robert. So now that they’re coming back with their bandmates Barry Kerch and Eric Bass on tour for their new album, Eight, expect a tribute to the beloved Philly DJ. Coheed and Cambria, From Ashes to New, and DJ Rock Feed open. 8 p.m., Xfinity Mobile Arena, 3601 S. Broad St., xfinitymobilearena.com

    Anthony Hamilton

    Before the Make the World Better Concert Weekend rolls in to the Dell, one of the highlights of the Strawberry Mansion venue’s R&B series arrives. Rough-and-ready North Carolina vocalist Anthony Hamilton was raised in the Black church and has brought spiritual ardor to his secular music over a 30-year career. Joe and Jon B open. 7 p.m., Dell Music Center, 2400 Strawberry Mansion Drive, dellmusiccenter.com

    Preservation Hall Jazz Band

    Under the direction of Philly-connected sousaphonist Ben Jaffe, New Orleans’ Preservation Hall Jazz Band brings the bon temps while always respecting Crescent City tradition. Expect this show to be a lively tribute to Ronell Johnson, the band’s trombonist who died in June at age 49. Meters bassist George Porter & the Runnin’ Pardners and John Papa Gros opening. 6 p.m., Concerts Under the Stars, 175 W. Valley Forge Road, King of Prussia, concertsunderthestarskop.com

    Hannah Cohen plays Free at Noon on Friday at World Stage and 118 North in Wayne that evening.Courtesy of the Aritist

    Friday, July 24

    Corey Hanson

    The singer of the Los Angeles psychedelic rock band Wand has moved away from garage rock to a piano and strings sound on his not-entirely-tongue-in-cheek titled fourth solo album, I Love People. Microgoblet opens. 8 p.m., Johnny Brenda’s, 1201 N. Frankford Ave., JohnnyBrendas.com

    Hannah Cohen

    Earthstar Mountain, Hannah Cohen’s 2025 album, is a dreamy, pastoral collection that conjures 1970s Fleetwood Mac dreams with a touch of Brazilian bossa nova, and Sufjan Stevens and Clairo as guests. Emily Moales, the pianist and songwriter who records as Star Moles and is part of the South Philly-based Historic New Jersey collective, is the opening act. 118 North, 118 N. Wayne Ave., Wayne, 118NorthWayne.com.

    Philly alt-rock star Kurt Vile outside Silk City Diner on May 24, 2026, in Philadelphia.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer

    Friday, July 24 and Saturday, July 25

    Connor Barwin’s Make the World Better Concert Weekend

    The former All-Pro Eagle’s fundraising concerts for the MTWB foundation, which rebuilds Philly parks and rec centers, are back at the Dell after one year in FDR Park. Slanted and Enchanted Stephen Malkmus-led indie avatars Pavement — the subject of Bryn Mawr native Alex Ross Perry’s 2024 meta movie Pavements — headlines Friday, with Ratboys opening. Local heroes Kurt Vile & the Violators top the bill Saturday, with They Are Gutting a Body of Water and Twisted Teens. 7:30 p.m., Dell Music Center, 2400 Strawberry Mansion Drive, dellmusiccenter.com

    Friday, July 24; Saturday, July 25; Monday, July 27; and Wednesday, July 29

    Jill Scott takes to the stage for One Philly: Unity Concert for America on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway on July 4, 2026. The first of her four shows at the Met Philly is Friday.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer

    Jill Scott

    Jill Scott performed her entire set at the July 4 One Philly: Unity Concert for America on the Ben Franklin Parkway before the skies opened and caused a four-hour delay. For her festival-length set, she was in fine form and her band sounded fantastic. Now it’s time for four full-length shows at the Met in support of her new album, To Whom This May Concern. 7:30 p.m., Met Philly, 858 N. Broad St., themetphilly.com

    Saturday, July 25

    Shakira

    Shakira and New Jersey: Perfect together. Last weekend, the Colombian superstar performed her global hit “Dai Dai” with Burna Boy at the FIFA World Cup final at Met Life Stadium. On Saturday, she’ll be in Atlantic City in a room that’s smaller than the vast venues she’s accustomed to playing around the world. 8:30 p.m., Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall, 2301 Boardwalk, Atlantic City, boardwalkhall.com

    Dave P. at the Making Waves festival on the Atlantic City beach in August 2025.Dan DeLuca

    Making Waves

    The big Making Time ∞ blowout happens at Fort Mifflin in September, but the prelude will be staged this weekend in Atlantic City. Now in its second year, electronic music impresario David Pianka’s Making Waves day at the beach runs from 2 to 11 p.m. on the Atlantic Ocean side on the boardwalk at New York Avenue with DJ sets by VTSS, Detroit in Effect, Baalti, DJ Python, Fundido, and Universal Cave, then moves inside for an Anchor Rock Club after-party, with Curses, ADAAB, Jewelsea, and Dave. P himself. 2 p.m., Anchor Rock Club, 247 S. New York Ave., Atlantic City, makingtimeisrad.com/making-waves

    Saturday, July 25 and Sunday, July 26

    Disco Biscuits

    University of Pennsylvania-born electronic jam band Disco Biscuits is doing two nights in King of Prussia. Longtime drummer Allen Aucoin and the band parted ways last fall after more than 20 years, and these shows will be with new drummer Marlon B. Lewis. DJ Marb Menthols of Goose opens both shows, with Eggy playing the first night and Lespecial the second. Note the early start. 4:30 p.m., Heuser Park, 694 West Beidler Road, King of Prussia, concertsunderthestarskop.com

    Sunday, July 26

    Toto, Christopher Cross & the Romantics

    1980s nostalgia in full effect. Toto guitarist Steve Lukather has been a regular visitor to Philly stages in recent years, singing his band’s hits “Africa” and “Hold the Line” on dates with Ringo Starr’s All Star Band. Now he gets to do it with his own band. Christopher Cross is iconic in Yacht Rock circles for his hit “Sailing,” which came out in 1979. He’s also a great storyteller, as evident on a recent episode of The Questlove Show podcast. The Romantics have at least two songs you know in “What I Like About You” and “Talking in Your Sleep.” 6:45 p.m., TD Pavilion at the Highmark Mann, 5201 Parkside Ave., highmarkmann.org

    Bruce Hornsby performs during the Bourbon and Beyond music festival in Louisville, Ky., on Sept. 20, 2024. He plays Ocean City Music Pier on Monday. (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP, File)Amy Harris

    Monday, July 27

    Bruce Hornsby & the Noisemakers

    Fun facts about piano-playing “The Way It Is” hitmaker Bruce Hornsby: He’s toured with the Grateful Dead, I once saw him play accordion and sing Christmas songs with Bruce Springsteen, and the 6-foot-4 Virginian once beat his friend Allen Iverson in a game of one-on-one. He also has a freewheeling new album called Indigo Park that features guest appearances from Bonnie Raitt, Ezra Koenig, and the late Bob Weir. 7 p.m., Ocean City Music Pier, 825 Boardwalk, Ocean City, N.J., ocnj.us.

  • 4.6-million-square-foot King of Prussia data centers poised for nitty-gritty discussion

    4.6-million-square-foot King of Prussia data centers poised for nitty-gritty discussion

    A Main Line developer’s plan to build more than 4.6 million square feet of data centers in a small section of King of Prussia is set for an in-depth review beginning next week.

    The Upper Merion Planning Commission is scheduled to discuss three of Brian O’Neill’s five proposed data centers at its next meeting on Wednesday, July 22, according to Township Manager Anthony Hamaday and a meeting agenda posted online.

    After receiving an overview of the project at an initial planning commission meeting in May, the township has “done an official review, and we have forwarded our comments to the applicant,” Hamaday said. The plans “have been revised and sent back.”

    Next, Hamaday said, the planning commission will dive into the nitty-gritty, scrutinizing whether the project complies with township code.

    Inside the battle over King of Prussia’s 4.6 million square feet of proposed data centers

    Next Wednesday, they will review the proposed 2-million-square-foot data center at the Renaissance Boulevard office park; the proposed 370,000-square-foot data center at the current site of a daycare at 3200 Horizon Dr.; and the proposed 188,000-square-foot data center at an office and lab building on a remediated Superfund site at 2100 Renaissance Blvd.

    The other two proposed data centers are set to be reviewed at a meeting on Aug. 12, Hamaday said Tuesday.

    At the May meeting, O’Neill, whose MLP Ventures is behind the proposal, called it “an opportunity to change the world for the better” through AI-powered biotech that would complement his existing life-sciences complex, Discovery Labs. He said most of the centers would be leased to tenants, but has not specified which ones.

    Anti-data center lawn signs seen in King of Prussia in late May.Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer

    Many area residents have rallied against the centers, with some displaying bright orange lawn signs that read: “Five data centers, 100 feet from here. Absolutely not!” Opponents have cited concerns about the potential for noise, light, and other pollution, as well as the general disruption to their daily lives.

    Human reporters explain why AI data centers are so controversial in the Philly suburbs and beyond

    Hundreds of people packed the May meeting. Hamaday said the forthcoming meetings would be moved to the Upper Merion Area Middle School to accommodate expected crowds. They will also be broadcast live, potentially on the local TV channel, he said, and streamed on Zoom.

    Upper Merion Township isn’t the only place where O’Neill has set his sights.

    Across the Schuylkill, on the outskirts of Conshohocken, the developer wants to build another 2 million-square-foot AI data center at the site of the former Cleveland-Cliffs steel mill. He has said the center would be operated by a tenant related to the life sciences.

    The closed Cleveland-Cliffs steel Mill, pictured in June, where Brian O’Neill wants to build a 2-million-square-foot AI data center.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer

    He recently resubmitted a plan to Plymouth Township, and a procedural zoning hearing board meeting was held last month.

    A similar proposal was abruptly withdrawn in the fall due to legal issues over the sale agreement.

    The next meeting about the Conshohocken-area project is scheduled for Aug. 6 at Colonial Middle School and via livestream on the township’s YouTube channel.

    Both the Conshohocken-area and King of Prussia plans would require multiple recommendations and approvals before construction could begin.

  • Cherry Hill Mall to get new stores including Aritzia

    Cherry Hill Mall to get new stores including Aritzia

    The Cherry Hill Mall is soon set to welcome five new stores that have committed to more than 25,000 square feet of retail space at the South Jersey mall.

    The additions include Aritzia, the viral women’s clothing brand, which is set to open a store at the 1.3 million-square-foot Camden County mall by spring 2027. The complex is also adding legacy brands such as Timberland and True Religion, according to executives with PREIT, which owns the mall.

    “Retailers at this level are choosing their next locations very carefully right now, and the fact that six of them chose Cherry Hill Mall in the same leasing period speaks volumes,” Paula Charles, PREIT’s senior vice president of leasing, said in a statement.

    “For shoppers, it means more of the brands they want in one place and an experience that keeps getting better every time they visit,” Charles added.

    Philly-area malls aren’t dead yet. But they are changing.

    The new stores are slated to open in 2026 and 2027, PREIT executives said.

    The retailers will join Dick’s House of Sport, a 120,000-square-foot interactive sporting goods store that is on track to open later this year.

    Construction on Dick’s House of Sport at the Cherry Hill Mall, as seen in February.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

    Built on the site of a former office building, the two-story experiential space is set to include a climbing wall, golf simulators, an outdoor track and field, and batting and soccer cages.

    One of dozens of Dick’s House of Sport outposts, it will be represent “the largest single-tenant addition to Cherry Hill Mall in more than a decade,” PREIT executives said.

    The new retailers will also join Crocs, which last month opened a 2,000-square-foot store near the future Dick’s House of Sport, and DoneRight Doner Kebab, a fast-casual Mediterranean food spot that mall executives said will open later this summer in the food court.

    People walk by a new store, Pop Mart, at Cherry Hill Mall on Black Friday 2025.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer

    Meanwhile, elsewhere in the region, some mid-level malls continue to struggle and even die. Chester County’s only enclosed mall, Exton Square, closed last week after more than five decades in business.

    But higher-end complexes like Cherry Hill and King of Prussia seem to be thriving. King of Prussia Mall, in Montgomery County, also just announced a slate of new openings.

    King of Prussia Mall to get new stores including Pop Mart and Candyland Adventure playground

    Here’s what to know about the new shops coming soon to the Cherry Hill Mall:

    • Timberland: The boots and outdoor-wear company is set to open an 1,800-square-foot store later this summer. It will be near Dick’s House of Sport.
    • Indochino: The custom-suit-maker is set to open a 1,200-square-foot store before the 2026 holiday season. It will be off the Grand Court, near American Eagle and Pop Mart.
    • Aritzia: Set to occupy more than 20,000 square feet in the central Grand Court, its space will include not only a clothing store but also an A-OK Cafe, the brand’s in-house coffee shop. It is on track to open in spring 2027.
    • True Religion: The denim company is set to open a 2,230-square-foot store sometime early next year near Dick’s House of Sport.
    • Gorjana: The viral jeweler known for its gold pieces is set to open a 1,107-square-foot store by the 2027 holiday season in the Grand Court.

    Also at the mall, Pandora and Spencer’s recently moved into larger storefronts, and Lululemon is set to relocate into an expanded space in the Grand Court before the 2026 holiday season.

  • NovaCare Rehabilitation’s parent, Select Medical, was sold in $3.9 billion private equity deal

    NovaCare Rehabilitation’s parent, Select Medical, was sold in $3.9 billion private equity deal

    NovaCare Rehabilitation’s parent company, Select Medical Holdings Corp., was taken private in $3.9 billion private equity deal this week.

    NovaCare has more than 100 physical therapy locations in the Philadelphia region, including some through a partnership with Rothman Orthopaedics.

    For 25 years, NovaCare sponsored the Philadelphia Eagles practice complex in South Philadelphia. Jefferson Health took over the sponsorship this year.

    Top management joined private-equity firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe in the acquisition of Select Medical, which is based in Mechanicsburg, Pa. The sale was completed Wednesday. The price per share was $16.50 per share, an 18% premium to the latest close before the deal was announced in November.

    In addition to outpatient physical therapy through NovaCare and other subsidiaries at 1,850 locations in 36 states, Select Medical operates 104 long-term acute-care hospitals in 28 states and 38 rehabilitation hospitals in 15 states. The company has more than 45,000 employees and had $5.5 billion in revenue last year.

    Select Medical acquired NovaCare in 1999. Publicly traded NovaCare fell on hard times because of Medicare reimbursement changes under the federal Budget Reconciliation Act in 1997. The law capped reimbursement for speech, physical, and occupational therapy in nursing homes.

    The company, then headquartered in King of Prussia, lost $700 million in annual revenue because of those changes, The Inquirer reported at the time.