CampSpooky Hill, Nook Pennsylvania Corridor: Creating a PlanningMore Vibrant for a CommercialSustainable DistrictFuture North Station District: Potential for Progress Bucks County Upper Far Northeast District Far Northeast Regional Center Lower Far Pennypack Northeast District Montgomery Park County Central Northeast District Upper North DRAFT Wissahickon District Valley Park Upper Lower Northeast North Delaware I-76 Fern Rock District Northwest Transportation District Tacony Lower District Center Frankford Creek Northwest Transportation Park Burlington 10/17/17 Center District County North District I-95 Montgomery River Wards County District r Lower North e i v Fairmount R District DRAFT e r Park a Metropolitan Center w West Park a l District e Cobbs D Creek Park West District Market Street Camden 69th St. PATCO County Transportation I-676 Terminal University Southwest South District District Broad Street S c h u y l k i l l R i I-76 v Lower South e r Sports Complex Delaware District County Lower FDR Park AT&T Station Southwest Navy Yard District Philadelphia Gloucester International County I-95 Airport An Urban Land Institute Technical Assistance Panel January 25 – 26, 2018 On behalf of North Station District LLC The City of Philadelphia 1 Table of Contents Introduction and Background..................................................1 Project Components...............................................................3 Scope of the TAP.......................................................................5 Initial Assessments...................................................................6 Recommendations................................................................9 Summary...............................................................................11 ULI Panelists...........................................................................12 Stakeholder Participants........................................................13 About ULI The Urban Land Institute (ULI) was established in 1936 Panels (TAPs) that bring together objective planners, as a nonprofit educational and research institute and is developers, lenders, architects, and related professionals supported by more than 40,000 members in 82 countries to evaluate specific needs and make recommendations and representing all aspects of land use and development on implementation in an atmosphere free of politics disciplines. ULI’s mission is to provide leadership in the and preconceptions. ULI member and non-member responsible use of land in creating and sustaining thriving professionals provide their expertise in a voluntary capacity communities worldwide. and each has signed an agreement to avoid current or ULI provides guidance to nonprofits and municipalities potential conflicts of interest. seeking solutions to land use challenges. At the regional level, ULI Philadelphia offers Technical Assistance www.philadelphia.uli.org North Station District Potential for Progress Introduction and Background The subject of this report, the North Station District, homeownership rate of 52 percent compares favorably to falls within North Philadelphia, or, the North District of the rest of Philadelphia, most homes were built before 1959 Philadelphia, an 8.65 square mile area within the city that and are costly to maintain, placing an additional burden on is one of 18 planning districts drawn by the Philadelphia homeowners. City Planning Commission (PCPC) in 2011 as part of the Today the district’s economy is driven by healthcare Philadelphia2035 comprehensive plan for development and education rather than manufacturing, with neighboring and growth. The North District encompasses what had long Temple University Health System providing more than 25 been a hub for manufacturing with companies such as Tasty percent of the district’s jobs. But with only 5 percent of Baking, Atwater Kent, Budd Manufacturing and Botany 500 residents over 24 holding a bachelor’s degree or higher, providing employment for its residents. As manufacturing most residents don’t qualify for Temple’s high-skill/high- relocated or scaled back, jobs were lost and industrial wage jobs. And because 46 percent of district residents do buildings were abandoned. not have access to a car for their personal use, they are With the job losses, the North District’s population limited to jobs within walking distance or accessible via declined. In particular, the district’s population west of 5th public transit. The lack of appropriate education or training, Street fell by 28 percent from 1980 to 2010. Today the a shortage of low-skill jobs in the district and the confines North District is a predominantly African American and of available transportation contribute to the district’s high Latino community with the city’s largest population under unemployment rate and low household income. 20 years of age. The district is also young and has the city’s In addition to its industrial legacy the North District largest population of residents under 20 years of age. had thrived as a transit hub. Amtrak’s North Philadelphia Financial security is challenging for most of the Station is located within the North District and is part of district’s residents. Household income is $22,000 compared the vital Northeast Corridor that connects Boston, New with a citywide average of $37,000. Fully one-half of York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, DC. The homeowners are cost-burdened, spending more than 30 Station is also a stop for several of SEPTA’s Regional Rail percent of their income on housing. Although the district’s lines. Intersecting the district is the Broad Street Line (BSL), subway service that connects users to the Fern Rock Transportation W Clearfield Street Center to the north and the Sports and Entertainment W Indiana Avenue Complex in South Philadelphia. In addition, frequent bus service makes N Broad Street Broad N the area one of the most transit-rich in W Somerset Street the entire city. West Glenwood Avenue 1 The TAP’s Study Area: The North Station District Much of the residential housing stock surrounding the The North Station District, the study area for this TAP, North Station District is aging, in disrepair and blighted with is a convergence of the aforementioned transit stations and a vacancy rate of 12 percent. The City of Philadelphia as a associated parking lots, a commercial strip mall, a vacant whole experiences a vacancy rate of 13.2 percent. Although 180,000 square foot industrial building, the historic North the site is within a mile of both Temple University and its Philadelphia Rail Station building, and a vacant commercial Hospital, university and medical students don’t choose the space that once housed a supermarket. The North Station immediate area. District, located at 2900 N. Broad Street, is anchored In the city’s comprehensive plan, a portion of the North by Temple University one mile to the south and Temple District--the area comprised of the North Philadelphia Station University Hospital on mile to the north. and surrounding property--is identified as a Focus Area, an Although the North Station District is a transit rich area for potential restoration as a vibrant center of jobs, commercial site, it is heavily underutilized with numerous transit, housing and community space. The comprehensive vacancies. Much of the retail around the site and in the revitalization envisioned will require coordinated planning immediate community is neighborhood-serving with that addresses poverty, unemployment, high vacancy rates convenient retail that includes fast food, discount/dollar and distressed market conditions. stores, and laundromats. There are several destination The City of Philadelphia’s Office of Planning and tenants currently at the North Philadelphia station – AZ Budget Development asked ULI to conduct the TAP in conjunction with - discount furniture, Ashley Stewart Plus Woman, Cricket North Station District LLC, (the “Sponsor”), a development Wireless, and a Game Stop store. A key disappointment is the group that has control of several parcels of land surrounding former supermarket; the Pathmark was a strong anchor for the the North Philadelphia Station. The development group site and the neighborhood but closed in 2015. envisions “an urban mixed-use development offering up to Current retail space is poorly maintained and has 4M SF of research, medical, innovation, residential and retail limitedNORTH street appeal DISTRICT with poor signage as well as haphazard space centered around a major intermodal transit hub.” As merchandising• SQUARE MILES: 8.65 and window displays. Despite that there is described, the site is important to the City’s planning efforts traffic• RESIDENTS: at the 137,849 North (2010 U.S. Station CENSUS) District site, primary from the because of its great potential and transit connectivity. • NEIGHBORHOODS: Paradise, Allegheny West, Swampoodle, Tioga, East Tioga, Nicetown, Fairhill, Hunting neighborhoodPark, St. Hugh, Feltonville, and commuters Kensington, Harrowgate, passing Juniata byPark the site. Tacony LOWER Bucks County UPPER NORTH NORTHEAST Creek UPPER Roosevelt Boulevard NORTHWEST WyomingAvenue Feltonville Upper Far DRAFT Northeast Wayne Hunting Park Creek District Junction Wingohocking Street Frankford Far Northeast Station Regional Center Lower Far Pennypack Northeast District Montgomery Nicetown Tacony Creek Park Hunting Park County Hunting Park Hunting Park Avenue Central LOWER Juniata Park Northeast 10/17/17 District NORTHWEST Hunting Park Upper North East