Delaware River Sees Major Revitalization, But Environmental Issues Worry Developers

Philadelphia has long had a complex relationship with the waterway that positioned it as a global powerhouse.

The Delaware River is cleaner than it was a few decades ago, but in the 20th century, the waterway was racked with severe pollution from dozens of productive but noxious industrial sites that lined its banks. Urban planners didn’t think there was much to lose when they walled it off from the city with the construction of Interstate 95 in the 1970s.

Now, developers see great potential in Philadelphia’s waterfront as the Delaware River Waterfront Corp. builds out a $500M park that will cap the highway at Penn’s Landing, reconnecting Center City to its shoreline.

“On either side of that large project is a 7-acre parcel that’s available for development,” DRWC President and CEO Joseph Forkin said during Bisnow’s Philadelphia 2025 Forecast event on Tuesday. “There’s also a 3.3-acre parcel that sits on our marina basin site adjacent to the river.”

The park is just one part of the $1.1B in construction the group has coordinated along the waterfront, including 3.5 miles of new trails and several public parks on defunct industrial piers.

Forkin also highlighted two new major residential projects along the waterway.

The Delaware River Generating Station, an old coal-burning power plant in Fishtown, has been converted into a 173-unit apartment complex called The Battery.

DRWC also undertook 10 years of remediation work to turn the site of a former trash incinerator at the end of Spring Garden Street into a suitable place for a modern apartment community. There are now 60 people living in the Rivermark Northern Liberties development, Forkin said. 

“What Joe’s doing down there is extraordinary,” said Brian Emmons, vice president of the Southern Land Co.

But there are often major hurdles for developers scoping out potential projects along the Delaware River.

Rising flood elevation levels mean many potential redevelopment sites would need to be raised, but the days of piling up any old soil along U.S. riverfronts are long gone.

“Sourcing clean fill is difficult,” said Peter Downham, vice president and principal scientist at the development company Roux. “It costs a lot of money.”

Groups like the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers also exercise significant control over the river, which can complicate the permitting process.

“Those are permits you do not get overnight,” Downham said. “There’s a lot of negotiations that go back and forth… That can cause a lot of delays.”

Hazardous materials were often dumped at industrial sites along the Delaware River in the 20th century. Removal and remediation can be another major expense, Downham said. Such environmental issues are often a red flag for SLC, Emmons said.

“If there’s issues like that, we just walk away,” he added. “We’re a conservative company.”

Forkin highlighted some of the measures DRWC has taken to help developers overcome these challenges.

“We went out very early and did site assembly,” he said. “We’ve also completed legislation on the state and federal level to aid private development.”

The Commonwealth passed the Waterfront Development Tax Credit Program in 2016, giving developers a 75% tax subsidy for any money they spend building public amenities along Pennsylvania’s rivers. The bill can allocate up to $1.5M in credits per year.

Philadelphia’s Central Delaware Riverfront Overlay District also gives developers a path to add extra height and density to projects in a long swath between Oregon and Allegheny avenues, Forkin said.

Remediating a polluted lot isn’t out of the question for many developers, but that doesn’t mean the industry is broadly interested in environmentalism — especially with President-elect Donald Trump’s pending return to office.

“I don’t think anyone cares,” said Rich Gottlieb, president and CEO of Keystone Development + Investment. “Corporations just don’t seem to be willing to pay for it.”

Tenants also generally don’t want to pay more for sustainability features, he said.

That’s why SLC doesn’t pursue LEED certifications, Emmons said.

The company’s buildings often meet the organization’s standards, but the thousands of dollars it would cost to formally certify the structures usually don’t entice tenants to shell out extra rent money, he said.