December 10, 2025
Provided Image/HRP Group
Beverage manufacturer DrinkPak has signed a lease to become the first tenant at the 1,300-acre Bellwether District development in Southwest Philadelphia. The project, led by HRP Group, will transform the site of the former Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery that closed after a series of fires and an explosion in 2019.
California-based canned beverage manufacturer DrinkPak has signed a lease to become the first tenant at the Bellwether District, the commercial hub being developed at the site of the former Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery.
The company's $195 million investment will bring a new facility to a nearly 75-acre parcel at 26th Street and Penrose Avenue, just west of FDR Park. Pennsylvania's Department of Community and Economic Development is providing a $2 million grant to support the project, which DrinkPak says will bring 174 jobs to the city over the next three years. The 1.4 million-square-foot facility is expected to open in 2027.
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"This project is a tremendous win for the Bellwether District, as well as the Commonwealth's manufacturing industry," DCED Secretary Rick Siger said in a statement.
DrinkPak, based in Santa Clarita, will use the new facility to produce, can, package and store a range of cocktails, energy drinks, sodas and other beverages. The company is a contract manufacturer for large brands including White Claw, High Noon, Monster Energy, Celsius and Arizona Tea.
DrinkPak CEO Nate Patena said expanding to Philadelphia will enable the company to make "any drink, any can (and) any format" of beverage at its U.S. locations. The company is developing another facility in Fort Worth, Texas in addition to its original manufacturing and logistics site in Santa Clarita.
At the Bellwether District, DrinkPak said it will have the capacity to deliver three billion cans per year. The site's proximity to Interstate 95 will enable the company to reach 47 million consumers in the region within a four-hour drive, cutting down East Coast shipment times.
The Bellwether District, a multiyear redevelopment led by HRP Group, will span 1,300 acres at the former refinery site along the Schuylkill River – about 2% of the city's entire landmass.
Philadelphia Energy Solutions, once the largest oil refinery on the East Coast, shut down in 2019 after fires broke out at the facility and caused a large explosion that sent debris hurtling from the site. Months after the incident, tests at the PES site found concentrations of the cancer-causing chemical compound benzene that were nearly five times higher than the standard set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, according to the watchdog group Environmental Integrity Project.
HRP Group, formerly Hilco Redevelopment Partners, bought the refinery site out of bankruptcy for $222 million in 2020. The company is planning a $4 billion redevelopment will transform the site with a 750-acre industrial logistics hub and a 250-acre campus geared toward life sciences companies.
In the years since the refinery explosion, HRP Group has led an extensive and ongoing environmental remediation of the site. The company signed a 10-year community benefits commitment with 16 neighborhood organizations last year pledging to invest in local workforce development, minimize the site's carbon footprint and complete infrastructure upgrades on and around the campus.
To accommodate increased traffic from the DrinkPak facility, HRP Group plans to widen the intersection of 26th Street and Penrose Avenue with two new lanes and a new entrance to the site at 26th and Hartranft Avenue.
HRP Group already has completed two warehouses at the Bellwether District that remain unleased. The company has not revealed any potential tenants for those facilities amid speculation that a data center or cogeneration plant could be part of discussions for the sites.
Over the coming decade, HRP Group anticipates constructing more than a dozen warehouses and other buildings at the Bellwether District and projects the campus could create as many as 19,000 permanent jobs in Philadelphia.
"DrinkPAK choosing to build its flagship East Coast facility in Philadelphia at the Bellwether District, bringing high-quality manufacturing and construction jobs to our City in a very competitive process, is proof that our strategy is working," Mayor Cherelle Parker said in a statement. "Philadelphia is a clear destination of choice for business."
