Three developers shortlisted for Festival Pier development

The Delaware River Waterfront Corp. has shortlisted three developers for Festival Pier, an 11-acre site that pokes out into the Delaware River.

The finalists are:

• Jefferson Apartment Group of McLean, Va., and Haverford Properties Inc. of Haverford, Pa. Jefferson has an office in Berwyn, Pa., and has locally constructed Jefferson Pointe, a 230-unit complex off Route 202 in West Chester, Pa.
• RAL Cos., a multifamily developer from New York.
• Toll Brothers Inc.,(NYSE: TOL) a residential developer from Horsham, Pa. The company has expanded its single-family business and delved into multifamily projects — condominiums and apartments - in urban and suburban environments.

This is just the first step in developing the parcel at Spring Garden Street and Delaware Avenue and will serve as a preview of a process for how Penn’s Landing, which totals 14 acres, will eventually be developed.

For Festival Pier, DRWC initiated a request for expressions of interest in February and had eight national and local companies respond. An internal DRWC committee reviewed those responses and narrowed it down by considering experience and financial capacity to complete a large-scale, mixed-use project. A residential component will be the anchor to the project.

The next step is for the three firms to respond to a request for proposals, which are due July 1. At that time, the developers are expected to give a full scope of the project they are proposing. This will include financing, who would be on the project team, a market analysis and other details.

“We’re very excited,” said Thomas Corcoran, president of DRWC. “We think they are three very good candidates for the site and that the site is ripe for development.”

Corcoran cited all of the development that has happened in Fishtown, Northern Liberties and other nearby activity by Core Realty Inc. at Penn Treaty Village and PMC Property Group.

“We are seeing Festival Pier as ground zero since it has all of this development happening on three sides,” Corcoran said.

Any project must adhere to certain standards and goals outlined in a master plan for the central Delaware.

An in-house committee will review the proposals over the summer and will select one to proceed with, Corcoran said. At that time, DRWC will enter into a long-term ground lease with that developer. Once that is completed, the proposed project will be made public and receive public input.

Source: Philadelphia Business Journal