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The city has continued its plans to redevelop Market East throughout this year — aiming to continue adding new businesses post-America 250.
And its latest step is its new engagement center – MY Market East, at 932 Market Street.
“MY Market East is a space for engaging the public and co-creating the Market East of the future,” said Jessie Lawrence, the director of planning and development with the city.
The center is located along the Meantime on Market block — a series of temporary popups intended to spruce up the 900 block of Market Street ahead of America 250.
Lawrence said that the center has already attracted over 100 visitors during its “soft opening.” The center has forms that contributors have filled out with their hopes and expectations for the area’s future.
“MY Market East offers engagement that can be seen, touched, and felt,” he said. “My Market East also provides opportunities for personal, one-on-one interaction with professional city planners who are staffing the hub, and with fellow members of the public who are visiting the hub.”
Lawrence said this is also not the only space for public input.
“We’re launching a second online public survey that’s going to build on the tremendous amount of research and public engagement that we’ve had up until this point,” he said.
Mayor Cherelle Parker described this overhaul of Market East as a revival.
“We can take a stroll through our history to remember what Philadelphia’s first major commercial quarter has meant to our city’s existence,” she said. “That is why what you hear me describe is the revival of Market East. Because when you are trying to revive something, we want to remember how great we are.”
History
Market East is essentially Philadelphia’s downtown — an area from City Hall to Independence Hall between Arch Street to the north and Chestnut Street to the south.
The area encompasses the Fashion District Mall, Jefferson Station and Jefferson University Hospital, Reading Terminal Market, the Pennsylvania Convention Center and numerous small businesses, schools and restaurants.
Parker said every Philadelphian sees the area differently.
“What comes to mind when you think about Market Street?” she asked. “Maybe you thought about your morning commute, your favorite place to shop, or maybe meeting friends for an evening night out. I imagine every one of you has your own answer, and for us, that’s okay, because every single Philadelphian has their own personal connection to Market Street. It’s our city’s real ‘Main Street.’”
The corridor is also vital for the city’s labor market, said Prema Katari Gupta, the Center City District’s CEO.
“This area is home to more than 300,000 jobs, 42% of the jobs in the city, and this is just 6% of the city’s land area.”
The Market East corridor has struggled for decades with multiple shuttered storefronts and transient businesses.
Meantime on Market was one of the city’s collaborative efforts to “spruce up” the area — even if temporarily.
David Rosenwasser is the co-CEO of Rarify, one of the pop-ups in the initiative. He told Billy Penn in an earlier interview that this pop-up model not only helps the city, but it helps small businesses come to a prolific area of the city.
“The idea of trying to activate really noteworthy parts of the city for retail at a time when a small business like us sees retail as unbelievably risky, expensive, and scary, was incredible,” he said.
The city’s long-abandoned Filbert Street bus station also re-opened recently, bringing local and visiting riders to the neighborhood.
Also, Philly received a $2.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation that is specifically aimed at planning for improvements to the corridor.
Yet, concerns about transparency, timing and accountability during the process remain.
City leaders embraced plans for a controversial Sixers arena on Market Street back in 2022 – but the plan for this development ended in 2025 following major opposition, both locally and from national sports organizations.
Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, which owns 920-938 Market Street and 1000-1024 Market Street, had also made plans to demolish 1000-1024 Market Street. But earlier this year, the organization decided to hold off. They said they wanted to allow for summer pop-up shops and space to celebrate the nation’s 250th anniversary.
As the pop-up shops come to an end, Parker said the city is prepping for the next stage of redevelopment – which is where public input, especially through the engagement center, will be important.
“Over the next several weeks, everyone in Philadelphia is invited to walk through these doors, explore the vision for Market East, share ideas, and help shape the decisions that will guide its future,” she said.
Other developments
As the FIFA World Cup, MLB All-Star Weekend and America 250 hit Philly this summer, the city saw multiple pop-ups and temporary businesses along Market Street.
This is an area the Center City District says they are proud of these developments. The organization supports businesses around the area.
“We do a lot operationally as a business improvement district to support businesses every day,” said Clint Randall, the vice president of economic development for CCD. “Our community service reps, who a lot of people think of as hospitality ambassadors, pay visits to every business kind of on a rolling basis. But in addition to being helpful out on the street with residents and visitors, they’re also popping into these stores and restaurants and checking in.”
He said CCD is touting over 50 new businesses that have been established in the area in 2026 — and there are more to come.
“It’s the ongoing residential growth of Center City,” he said. “It’s still one of the fastest-growing areas of Philadelphia. Its population has grown every year since the pandemic, and so the more people that call Center City home, the more demand there is for a whole variety of services, businesses and restaurants.”
In terms of Market East, its future is still uncertain, said Amy Genda, the vice president of strategy for CCD.
“What comes next, I hope, is more momentum and more progress, and everything keeps moving forward in that direction,” she said.
There has been positive momentum with many businesses and restaurants, Randall said.
“In terms of the future of these pop-ups specifically, that’s going to depend on you know what the retailers and the landlords can figure out,” he said. “But I would be remiss not to point out the fact that there is also a lot of momentum just East of Broad in general with new retail concepts.”
He said this includes newer apartment buildings like 210 South 12th, new restaurants like Mi Vida and the reopened Iron Hill Brewery on Market Street.
To provide your input on the redevelopment process, you can visit the new Market East Revival Hub on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday from 12-6 p.m. through July 31. The city and temporary pop-up businesses tease that this space may last even longer – but for now, you can enjoy it through the end of July.