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Pa. liquor store to open next to Target near 11th and Chestnut

Expect more. Pay less. Then drink and be merry. Target's neighbor in Center City's Market East neighborhood will be a jumbo-sized wine and spirits shop, as the area's growing base of residents and restaurants stokes the demand for booze.

Expect more. Pay less. Then drink and be merry.

Target's neighbor in Center City's Market East neighborhood will be a jumbo-sized wine and spirits shop, as the area's growing base of residents and restaurants stokes the demand for booze.

Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board members voted in August to lease space near 11th and Chestnut Streets beside the future Target, spokesman Shawn Kelly said Wednesday.

The Fine Wine and Good Spirits shop will occupy about 14,000 square feet of ground floor and basement space in a mixed-use development now under construction by Brickstone Cos., said Larry Steinberg, a senior vice president at real estate brokerage CBRE.

Last month, Target said that it planned to open a 19,000-square-foot store at the site in July 2016. Together, the two stores will occupy all the project's street-level retail space, said Steinberg, who represented Brickstone in the deal.

The new liquor store will replace a smaller shop at 12th and Chestnut, Steinberg said. The PLCB - which operates the state's spirits shops - likely anticipates increased retail business from the growing number of nearby residents, he said.

The Brickstone project and the East Market development across the street include about 400 new residential units in total.

But the state agency has restaurant-industry customers in mind, too. The new location, which will open in spring 2016, will feature a loading dock where restaurants can pick up bulk beverage orders, Kelly said.

That will help the state board accommodate what is already a booming restaurant district, Steinberg said. The East Market development and the revamped Gallery at Market East a few blocks away will introduce even more dining establishments to the area.

"The restaurant industry continues to expand inside Center City and we're seeing it happen in a lot of the major developments taking place east of Broad Street," Steinberg said.

215-854-2615 @jacobadelman