Bankrupt Philadelphia Energy Solutions is expected to sell its fire-damaged refinery site to real estate developer Hilco Redevelopment Partners, Reuters reported. The agreement between PES and Hilco, a Chicago-based developer that specializes in redeveloping industrial properties, is expected to be announced soon. Any sale would have to be approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. A sale to Hilco would reduce the possibility that the more-than 1,300-acre (526-hectare) Philadelphia site would be resurrected as an oil refinery. Hilco, which has $2.5 billion of assets under management and has acquired 5,000 acres in North America, specializes in redeveloping obsolete industrial sites, according to its website. The 335,000 barrel-per-day refinery is the largest and oldest on the U.S. East Coast, but was shut after a fire and a series of explosions on June 21 last year that destroyed a key processing unit. PES filed for chapter 11 protection a month after the blaze and put the 150-year-old refining operation up for sale.
