Chestnut Hill has an extraordinary commercial corridor. The main street, Germantown Avenue, is lined with trees, punctuated with gardens and green spaces, and populated, for the most part, by storefronts.

Many of these commercial spaces are on the ground floors of historic buildings, with apartments upstairs; they have long histories and storied lives. Each has its own personality and profile, as well as its own opportunities and challenges. Many are beautiful. Most are housing wonderful shops, restaurants and popular service businesses.

Some, however, sit vacant. I would like to share with you the steps that we at the Chestnut Hill Business District are taking to address that fact.

Our interest is to shape the mix of businesses that open here by bringing independent shops and restaurants to our corridor. Why? Locally owned businesses tend to have a greater stake in the well-being of the neighborhood. They also bring a lifeblood to our business community that can be missing from their corporate counterparts.

We are also looking for a healthy mix of goods and services. We want businesses that meet the unmet needs of our shoppers and complement our existing businesses. We're looking for shops that know how to satisfy and surprise their customers, and restaurants that make us all proud to bring our guests.

And we're making great progress. Since January 2022, our population of businesses has grown tremendously – 31 new businesses have opened in Chestnut Hill, and four have upgraded to new spots on Germantown Avenue. While much of the commercial real estate world is struggling to rebuild its occupancy numbers post-COVID, our Germantown Avenue storefront occupancy rate grew from 90.5% in February 2020, immediately before the lockdown, to 94% today. For purposes of comparison, the Center City District reports a storefront occupancy rate of 85% in its 2024 State of Center City Report.

Four new businesses are about to open here in the next few months, and more are on the way. We're particularly proud of the new breadth and diversity in the mix – something that we're being recognized for. As The Philadelphia Inquirer reported on April 30, 2024, "In Chestnut Hill, newly opened storefronts like Multiverse, NoName Gallery, Serenity Aesthetics & Wellness Medical Spa, and others have breathed new life into the historically affluent neighborhood known for 18th-century architecture and a bustling commercial corridor. These businesses, owned by people of color, are servicing an evolving and increasingly diverse Chestnut Hill."

Our new tenants have come to us in a variety of ways and as a result of several factors – active outreach by us, word-of-mouth encouragement from existing business owners and support from various property owners.

These new retailers, as well as our more established ones, are benefiting from a growing awareness that the Chestnut Hill shopping district is a welcome alternative to the more heavily populated and sometimes daunting "in-town" sections of Center City and the less inspiring and sometimes overly predictable suburban shopping districts.

The process can be slow – the time it takes a new business to open, starting from our first contact with a prospective tenant to their opening day, can be as long as 18 months. But the momentum here is palpable. We're thrilled about that and look forward to continued success.

Ann Nevel

Retail Advocate

Chestnut Hill Business District