“Update on Lower Schuylkill River Development” by PIDCphila
November 21, 2017
Since the adoption of the Lower Schuylkill Master Plan, PIDC along with the City and its partners have been dedicated to reclaiming industrial waterfronts, converting publicly owned land to green space, and integrating roads, trails and infrastructure to spur development and investment in the 3,700-acre industrial district. Find out about the exciting progress to date.
When fully implemented, the plan calls for the creation of nearly 50 acres of new green space, 5 miles of public trails, more than 5 million square feet of modern industrial space, and 6,500 jobs. Since the plan’s adoption, more than 40 acres of contaminated sites have been cleaned up, 64 new companies and 266 new employees have been established, 1 mile of new riverfront trail and 4 acres of new riverfront greenspace created, and nearly $100 million from public & private sources has been invested in the Innovation District.
A recent milestone was the Schuylkill River Swing Bridge transfer to the City. City and State officials and representatives from Conrail, CSX, and the Schuylkill River Development Corporation held a ceremony marking the property transfer of the 115-year-old Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad Bridge No. 1 to the City of Philadelphia. Hidden City Philadelphia was there to capture the event.
The transfer marks the beginning of long-awaited plans to link the Gray’s Ferry Crescent Trail and Bartram’s Mile into a single unit of the Schuylkill River Trail, which will eventually connect to its parent trail across the river that currently terminates at South Street, soon to extend to Christian Street.
The Gray’s Ferry Crescent portion of the Schuylkill River Trail has given the neighborhood a new public amenity, while also spurring development. “Since the adoption of our Master Plan [for the Lower Schuylkill] nearly $100 million of private investment has occurred along the lower river,” said John Grady, President of the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation, to the crowd. “New facilities, infrastructure, nearly 65 new companies have opened up operations in this area around the trail, and there are nearly 300 people coming to work every day that were not coming to work previously.”
PIDC partnered with GreenTreks Network to produce a video highlighting the transformation of the Lower Schuylkill to date. Stay tuned for more exciting developments to come.