Last week, we told you about a couple of grants that recently came through for projects along the Delaware River. Today, we have news about the completion of the first quarter-mile of the Delaware River Trail, a path along the river that will ultimately extend over a five-mile stretch of waterfront from Oregon to Allegheny Avenue. Running both on-road, as this first section does, and off-road along the river, the Delaware River Trail will, once complete, connect with other regional trails at its northern and southern end.

The whole trail

The first section

The Delaware River Trail, designed by the RBA Group, is the brainchild of the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation, and a critical element of the Master Plan for the Central Delaware. And the opening of…

An old warehouse at 5th & Poplar has been razed to make way for twenty-one new homes in Northern Liberties. Developers pursued a somewhat lengthy process with the Northern Liberties Neighbors Association (NLNA) before the group agreed to support the project this spring. The fact that demolition has now taken place gives us a good sense that the ZBA has given their approval as well.

In the past

Demolished

This winter, the developers first proposed 24-units on the site, acquired for just over $1M in March of 2012. But NLNA members found the plan uninspiring. Some preferred a loft type renovation that preserved the warehouse. After many adjustments and discussions, NLNA and the developers agreed on twenty-one homes with roof decks and 2:1 parking, according to Larry Freedman, NLNA zoning chair. Thirteen of the homes will front 5th…

Tendrilescence is the name of an early artistic lighting concept for the still-being-planned Spring Garden Connector. That and additional plans for streetscape improvements under the I-95 Spring Garden Street overpass were presented at a public meeting hosted by Delaware River Waterfront Corporation (DRWC) on May 29th.

Not so welcoming

Like the Columbia Avenue Connector we told you about last month, the goal of the Spring Garden Connector is to beautify and improve access to the waterfront, specifically with improvements to the block to the east of the Spring Garden El Station. A number of connectors, including the Race Street Connector, were included in the Master Plan for the Central Delaware overseen by the DRWC.

Race Street Connector

The Spring Garden Connector is different from Columbia Avenue both because of its…

Whenever we’ve passed by 850 N. 4th St. previously, we wondered exactly what the builders were thinking when they set the homes back so far from 4th Street. Were they offering their buyers a chance for some added privacy? Were they hoping that folks would appreciate what was essentially a giant shared front lawn? Or did they simply not understand why it’s a bad idea to waste valuable land in such a hot neighborhood?

In the past

When we passed this address the other day, it dawned on us that the state of affairs here was merely a temporary situation, and that plans apparently always called for four additional homes to fill in the development, which was once called Green Park Court. Two of the final four homes have been framed out of late, with two more sure to come in the…

After developers spent several months refining their project with the local civic group, more development is planned on Front Street along the shadow of I-95 in Northern Liberties. In April, members of the Northern Liberties Neighbors Association (NLNA) zoning committee approved a proposal for eight single family homes at 933-37 Front St., a project initially presented two months earlier. The property is across the street from Liberty Gates, a Jersey Shore like condo project with inward-facing houses that pretty much do their best to ignore Front Street.

The lot

Liberty Gates

The area is one that has seen recent improvements and has plans for more. In March, we told you about plans for 11 new units on the 900 block of New Market Street, less than a five minute walk away from this block. And before that, in February…

When we last checked in at the corner of Bodine & Green late last year, NLNA was asking developer David Perlman to reduce the number of units planned, provide additional details on his project, and make some small design changes as well. It seems that the community and the developer were able to come to an understanding, as work began at this site a couple of months ago, with the homes fronting Bodine currently being framed out.

Framing

When all is said and done here, there will be six homes fronting Bodine and another three fronting Green Street, according to the permits that have been pulled for the project. There will also be three parking spaces to go with the homes, which together have been dubbed Green Street Commons. The houses will each include 3 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms,…