Demolition to begin soon for construction of new Wynnewood Whole Foods

A major change in the landscape of a part of Wynnewood is getting closer.

Nearly a year after Lower Merion Township granted preliminary plan approval, as buildings on the tract emptied and sat dark, the developer of a new Whole Foods Market at Lancaster Avenue and East Wynnewood Road has been taking final steps to prepare for demolition.

Dan Fuchs, vice president of development at WP Realty, said in an interview Wednesday that it has been working to have various utilities to the existing buildings from Lancaster Avenue to 23 E. Wynnewood Road disconnected, a process that must be completed to pull demolition permits.

One of those steps was to have been taken overnight Wednesday to Thursday, July 9-10, when PECO was to have shut down service to the area. The shutdown, scheduled from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., would have affected some other electric customers in the vicinity.

Because of the damage and outages from Tuesday nights storms and with more thunderstorms forecast for Wednesday night the service interruption is being rescheduled, according to PECO spokesman Greg Smore.

We have to be sure we have all of our resources available to restore storm outages, Smore said. Some customers in Lower Merion who lost power Tuesday night have been told not to expect their service to be restored until Thursday or Friday.

WP Realty is the owner of most of the parcels in the block between Lancaster Avenue and Penn Road, the exception being the Citizens Bank parcel. A first portion, extending up to the former Alexs Lemonade Stand headquarters, will become the site of a 45,000-square-foot Whole Foods Market, as it moves from its current location just west on Lancaster Avenue.

The new two-level store, nearly three times the size of the existing market, will include a pub and caf, with about half of its parking in a structure under the building on East Wynnewood Road.

Seven older commercial buildings, including two large office buildings and the former Yucoa Plaza retail strip, will be razed.

WP Realty also has preliminary plan approval for a separate development from 29-39 E. Wynnewood Road, where additional buildings, including a notable mid-century modern bank building at Penn Road, will also be demolished. A new retail building and bank are planned for that site. Continued...

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Demolition to begin soon for construction of new Wynnewood Whole Foods