Construction is expected to begin next year on a Giant supermarket at the Andorra Shopping Center in Roxborough. The project will be the first phase of a larger redevelopment bringing new stores and a refreshed look to the decades-old shopping center on Henry Avenue at Cathedral Road.
Federal Realty Investment Trust, which handles leasing for the shopping center, said the 50,000-square-foot Giant will replace the former Acme market that closed earlier this year. An opening date for the new grocery store hasn’t been set.
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Developers also are planning to spend $25 million to add another 30,000 square feet of retail space adjacent to the Andorra branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia at the northwest end of the shopping center. Landscaped plazas, outdoor dining and curbside pickup locations are among the upgrades targeted to be finished by early 2026, planners said.
“We believe this reinvestment will position the shopping center and its businesses for long-term success,” said Kari Glinski, vice president of asset management at Federal Realty Investment Trust.
Andorra in Roxborough, located along the city’s border with Montgomery County, has a more suburban feel than most Philly neighborhoods. The Andorra Shopping Center was built in the 1950s, and earlier in the shopping center’s history, the Acme occupied space that would later become a series of movie theaters, the last being an AMC theater that closed in 2003.
The new Giant supermarket will take over Acme’s former space next to the LA Fitness gym. Some of the shopping center’s other tenants are Kohl’s, T.J. Maxx, Five Below, Dollar Tree, Petco, Chipotle and Applebee’s.
Giant’s plan to open in Andorra continues the Carlisle-based chain’s expansion in Philadelphia, where its supermarkets and small-format Giant Heirloom stores have opened in locations across the city in recent years.
Federal Realty did not share details about any of the other stores that could be headed to the Andorra Shopping Center as part of the redevelopment.