![](https://www.witf.io/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/2019-08-16-kpaynter-refinery-file-shot-1620x1080.jpg)
Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery in South Philadelphia. Workers are in the process of neutralizing a highly toxic substance as part of a shut down.
Kimberly Paynter / WHYY
Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery in South Philadelphia. Workers are in the process of neutralizing a highly toxic substance as part of a shut down.
Kimberly Paynter / WHYY
Kimberly Paynter / WHYY
Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery in South Philadelphia. Workers are in the process of neutralizing a highly toxic substance as part of a shut down.
Chicago-based Hilco Redevelopment Partners is now officially the owner of the former Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery complex in Southwest Philadelphia. The deal closed about midday Friday for a final price of $225.5 million.
Hilcoâs plan is to transform the 1,300-acre site into a multimillion-dollar distribution and commercial hub, ending a legacy of 150 years of oil refining on the property.
âWe feel very lucky, we feel honored,â Roberto Perez, chief executive officer of the real estate development company, said in a phone interview with WHYY. âWe view this opportunity as a generational opportunity to invest in Philadelphia, do the right thing from an environmental perspective â we work very closely with Evergreen and all the different stakeholders â to clean up the asset and then redevelop it.â
(Evergreen Resources is the Energy Transfer subsidiary in charge of cleaning up legacy Sunoco contamination at the site before PES took it over in 2012.)
Perez said the idea is to have multiple users at the site â âthe Home Depots of the world, the FedEx of the world, the Targets of the worldâ â that need facilities for sorting and that can then take advantage of the siteâs location to move their products through the port, the airport, by rail or on highways.
The redevelopment process will start immediately, Perez said, with a cleanup phase that includes the demolition and decommissioning of the refinery infrastructure. Hilco will keep and maximize the use of the Schuylkill River tank farm, pipelines, and access to the waterfront and railyards, Perez said.
âBut from a refinery perspective, actually refining products here, we do not see that happening,â he said. âWe do not see the refinery starting, and our vision for the project is going to meet the new economy, which is more environmentally conscious from a development perspective.â
Mayor Jim Kenney, who created a 20-member advisory group to think about the future of the refinery complex when PES shut down operations there after last yearâs massive explosion and fire, welcomed the sale of what he called one of the most important commercial sites in the city. A report published by the advisory group in November, after six public meetings, concluded that a cleaner and safer use of the land was desirable.
âThe action creates jobs, ensures the future commercial viability of the site, and decreases the former refineryâs environmental impact,â Kenney said in a statement. âI am hopeful that Hilcoâs vision for the refinery site will be consistent with the values and priorities we heard throughout the Refinery Advisory Group process last year.â
According to Hilco executives, the siteâs redevelopment will create 18,000 jobs in the next 10 years â 8,000 union construction jobs and 10,000 permanent jobs â and ârely heavily on local unions and local trades.â
âHilco officials have assured me they will have a serious commitment to diversity and inclusion for the facility, plus will make sure that as many local residents as possible get these new jobs. I look forward to working with community stakeholders for a bright new future for the property,â City Councilmember Kenyatta Johnson, whose district includes the property, said in a statement.
StateImpact Pennsylvania is a collaboration among WITF, WHYY, and the Allegheny Front. Reporters Reid Frazier, Rachel McDevitt and Susan Phillips cover the commonwealth’s energy economy. Read their reports on this site, and hear them on public radio stations across Pennsylvania.
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StateImpact Pennsylvania is a collaboration among WITF, WHYY, and the Allegheny Front. Reporters Reid Frazier, Rachel McDevitt and Susan Phillips cover the commonwealth’s energy economy. Read their reports on this site, and hear them on public radio stations across Pennsylvania.
Climate Solutions, a collaboration of news organizations, educational institutions and a theater company, uses engagement, education and storytelling to help central Pennsylvanians toward climate change literacy, resilience and adaptation. Our work will amplify how people are finding solutions to the challenges presented by a warming world.