Parking Firm Pays $95K an Acre for South Philly Parcel

PHILADELPHIA-An unnamed private parking company paid in excess of $2 million, or more than $95,240 an acre, for a 21-acre vacant parcel at 6700 Essington Ave. in the southwest section of the city. The seller is Tampa, FL-based Maritrans, a company that builds and operates vessels for US trade.

The property has 1,000 ft of frontage on Essington, just west of Passyunk Avenue and is adjacent the Philadelphia Auto Mall, where multiple local car dealers trade. It is also in close proximity to the airport.

Although the land is zoned for heavy industrial uses, “its generally flat topography offers an excellent site for creation of a private or public parking area that would provide expanded new vehicle storage facilities for car dealers located in the Auto Mall, or long-term parking for travelers departing from Philadelphia International Airport,” says Patrick Green, SVP in the local office of CB Richard Ellis. Green was the sole agent in negotiating the sale for Maritrans.