Sale Of Largest East Coast Refinery Closes With Last Minute Drama

Sale Of Largest East Coast Refinery Closes With Last Minute Drama

PHILADELPHIA, June 21, 2019 -- Photo taken on June 21, 2019 shows the Philadelphia Energy Solutions ... [+] refinery after the fire in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the United States. (Photo by Liu Jie/Xinhua via Getty) (Xinhua/Liu Jie via Getty Images)



Xinhua News Agency via Getty Images



The city of Philadelphia has undergone a tumultuous few weeks as a focal point in nationwide protests over racial injustice.  Almost forgotten amid the unrest has been the fate of the city's oil refinery, which abruptly closed last July following a catastrophic explosion that rocked largely African-American neighborhoods of south Philadelphia yet, by sheer miracle, resulted in no deaths.  



On Thursday, the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery and its creditors finalized the sale of the 1,300 acre site to Chicago-based Hilco Redevelopment Partners for $225.5 million, $26.5 million less than the parties had agreed to in February.  In recent weeks Hilco, which intends to redevelop the site as a logistics hub, had demanded a lower price as the cost of environmental remediation for the toxic site escalated, and as the economic outlook dimmed due to the coronavirus pandemic.  The revised deal includes the transfer of emissions reduction credits owned by the refinery to Hilco.



The drama surrounding the sale