Philly Office Retail opens new offices in Mt. Airy

Philly Office Retail, a Germantown-based real estate company, is growing its operations.

On Monday, it officially opened a new office, which is located at 6825 Germantown Ave. in Mt. Airy. Though the company has been operating there for the last two weeks, Monday was the first time it celebrated this expansion with the community, at an open house.

Philly Office Retail, which currently owns more than 350,000 square feet of commercial space in and around the city, will also remain in its other office down the street, at 5219 Germantown Ave. in Germantown.

Ken Weinstein, a partner at Philly Office Retail, says this is partly why community members have been, according to him, warm to the new office. “It would be very different if we were leaving our presence in Germantown,” he said. “People have been welcoming the change. A lot of our tenants are located in Mt. Airy.”

It should come as no surprise that Weinstein’s company is expanding into Mt. Airy: He owns the Trolley Car Diner & Deli in Mount Airy, Trolley Car Cafe in East Falls and chairs the Mt. Airy Business Improvement District.

Weinstein says that Philly Office Retail has opened a new office because it’s planning for a big year. He expects it will acquire 100,000 more square feet in the next 12 months.

“In this economy, there’s a lot of opportunity open to us,” he said.

Weinstein says that the last five years have been especially successful for the 20-year-old company. He notes that in Germantown and Hunting Park alone, Philly Office Retail has acquired more than 60,000 square feet of commercial space.

Weinstein would not, however, disclose any upcoming development projects. He did mention that a few recent projects included Mr. Peeper’s moving into 7125 Germantown Avenue, a Food for All going in next door at 7127 Germantown Avenue, and a daycare center soon setting up shop at a renovated property at 6631 Chew Avenue.

“There’s always something happening,” said Weinstein.