The Philadelphia Navy Yard

summersm343 · #1 Posted: **May 11, 2012, 12:07 AM**

The Philadelphia Navy Yard is an old Naval Shipyard in South Philadelphia. It was also the first Naval Shipyard in the United States. The Navy has significantly decreased it's presence in the area in the past two decades and most of the area was bought by Liberty Property Trust, a local Philadelphia development company. Liberty is responsible for development of Comcast Center, the Liberty Towers and other large developments in Philadelphia. The company has since been converting the site of the old Naval Shipyard into a new business park for the city of Philadelphia and the result is a mix of old, new and ruined buildings. The site sees continuous construction.

I decided to travel down to the Navy Yard and here is a photographic journey for all of you to enjoy.

Hope you all enjoyed

'Till next time.

xzmattzx · #2 Posted: **May 11, 2012, 5:03 AM**

Nice pictures. Was it easy to get in? I wasn't sure if they have gates, or what.

summersm343 · #3 Posted: **May 11, 2012, 5:09 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by xzmattzx

Nice pictures. Was it easy to get in? I wasn't sure if they have gates, or what.

Yeah it was simple... it's open to the public from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM Monday through Friday. Just walk through the front gates and no one should bother you as long as you're going within those hours.

I suggest checking it out, it's a cool place to see.

LSyd · #4 Posted: **May 11, 2012, 11:47 AM**

awesome tour and photos, thanks. so this is where my brother in law trained until he had a fall and got medically separated.

-

Danny · #5 Posted: **May 11, 2012, 2:08 PM**

Thanks a lot for this thread and pictures about The Navy yard.

I´ve liked very much this area for the combination of new and old, and for its history. I like the new and old buildings, and the new green areas.

Congrats and greetings from Madrid, Spain!

Coldrsx · #6 Posted: **May 11, 2012, 7:12 PM**

Excellent example of creative re-use.

MplsTodd · #7 Posted: **May 11, 2012, 7:26 PM**

Great tour of an interesting development. I second Coldrsx's comment above. I really like how they maintain the historic feel of the area while incorporating new office buildings. Plus it'd be pretty cool to look out your window and see old destroyers or frigates everyday.

volguus zildrohar · #8 Posted: **May 11, 2012, 7:27 PM**

xzmattzx, there are some areas that are somewhat off-limits (namely ships, of course) but other than that you can go where you like on the grounds.

A good day, summer.

mhays · #9 Posted: **May 11, 2012, 7:32 PM**

I like the integration of new and old. Including the artifacts left as art.

Hope that surface parking is temporary.

It's great to have this as an option for growing companies in-town. While perfection might be taller buildings and better integration with neighborhoods, this sort of area can capture companies that otherwise might go to the suburbs.

Will there be housing eventually? A hotel or two? Maybe a little restaurant cluster focusing on lunch at least?

Looking at Bing Maps, there's a ton of heavy industry at least a few years ago. How much of that will stay? Of course dealing with contaminants after they leave can be a massive undertaking...

Odd that it's gated with hours vs. being part of the city. If it goes mixed use that'll have to change.

volguus zildrohar · #10 Posted: **May 11, 2012, 10:44 PM**

There is a master plan for the Navy Yard that includes residential but it isn't there yet. A subway extension is planned for the area but I do believe it isn't going to happen until people start living there.

Robert Pence · #11 Posted: **May 11, 2012, 11:37 PM**

Interesting place, and excellent photos.

Kingofthehill · #12 Posted: **May 12, 2012, 1:05 AM**

I'm sure Hunting Park (or wherever it was) appreciated Tastykakes more than the Navy Yard does...

SJPhillyBoy · #13 Posted: **May 12, 2012, 12:45 PM**

Very nice tour and pictures.
My father worked there for many years as a civilian when it was a bustling naval yard and major hub of employment for the city. He helped design the arresting gear for aircraft carriers back then.
Looks like it may be becoming a major hub of employement for the city again, just in a re-incarnated form.

Cro Burnham · #14 Posted: **May 12, 2012, 3:22 PM**

I was waiting for this! Great shots.

summersm343 · #15 Posted: **May 12, 2012, 5:56 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by volguus zildrohar

xzmattzx, there are some areas that are somewhat off-limits (namely ships, of course) but other than that you can go where you like on the grounds.

A good day, summer.

I agree

It was a good day.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mhays

I like the integration of new and old. Including the artifacts left as art.

Hope that surface parking is temporary.

It's great to have this as an option for growing companies in-town. While perfection might be taller buildings and better integration with neighborhoods, this sort of area can capture companies that otherwise might go to the suburbs.

Will there be housing eventually? A hotel or two? Maybe a little restaurant cluster focusing on lunch at least?

Looking at Bing Maps, there's a ton of heavy industry at least a few years ago. How much of that will stay? Of course dealing with contaminants after they leave can be a massive undertaking...

Odd that it's gated with hours vs. being part of the city. If it goes mixed use that'll have to change.

The surface parking is only temporary. There are plans to include restaurants and hotels as well as a residential area but the tricky part is it being so close to the airport. There are a ton of low flying planes as you could probably tell from my pics... it would be expensive to build residential I assume. Also, due to the low flying planes, any high buildings are pretty much out of the question. It's great to see this kind of suburban office park type area within the city limits. Most of the heavy industrial areas will be gone except for the port/existing naval yard. There are plans to adapt all of the existing industrial land into tech centers/business districts much like what is going on with the Navy Yard right now... all that needs to be done is lower the business tax to get some job growth within the city.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kingofthehill

I'm sure Hunting Park (or wherever it was) appreciated Tastykakes more than the Navy Yard does...

I'm not sure if it is considered Hunting Park or not but the old Tastykake stomping grounds has been converted into a shopping complex.

Thanks everyone for the comments and compliments

hammersklavier · #16 Posted: **May 12, 2012, 6:22 PM**

Hunting Park West, technically. Hunting Park Ave. was one of the city's premier industrial corridors and has hubs on both its east and west ends. The Budd Co., builders of lightweight aircraft and streamliners, was based on Hunting Park West for many many years. Most of the massive complex's former structures remain standing, in various stages of use and decay. Besides Tastykake, the other traditional employment hub there was the Atwater Kent radio factory.

That area has the bones to be a fantastic loft district.

Anyhoo...back to the Navy Yard.

The master plan being executed was and remains rather too suburban, with very high parking minima. This is due largely to its disconnect from the street grid--during the week a special shuttle runs from the Navy Yard to Pattison AT&T and back again. It, however, has some of the best highway access in the city and is extremely close to the airport.

Interestingly enough, the entire yard is on low-lying land or drained swamp. The roads being rebuilt aren't just being rebuilt, they're being raised, as is all new construction. Particularly along Flagship Avenue, you can see this, that the new roadbed is a good foot higher than the old one, creating a trompe d'oeil that the old buildings are sinking. This labor-intensive process is one of the reasons redevelopment down there is moving but slowly.

While the initial development will continue to have far too many surface lots and structured decks, the overarching street plan shows development of a tighter grid. This will, as time goes on, facilitate infilling of the Navy Yard. Long-term, the desire is to turn it into a fully functioning urban neighborhood (and I'm sure Urban's employees offer an excellent built-in market).

summersm343 · #17 Posted: **May 12, 2012, 6:31 PM**

For anyone interested, here is a some renders of the master plan.... I probably should have posted this with the photos... oh well.

Link to photos
http://www.ramsa.com/projects-search...ladelphia.html

Parkway · #18 Posted: **May 13, 2012, 6:26 AM**

It's interesting that we were down there on the same day just a few hours apart and I would agree thats it's a cool place to go poke around.

However it was right about the time I was getting buzz cuts from a Lufthansa A-340 and a BA 777 that I realised that residential development in that area would be a really bad idea. The last thing we need is another group of NIMBYs stopping future traffic expanisions at PHL. The issue is that the southern end of the yard sits right under short final for runways 26 and 27R.

jeremai · #19 Posted: **May 13, 2012, 7:54 AM**

Interesting mix. Thanks for the tour.

Jelly Roll · #20 Posted: **May 13, 2012, 4:21 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by summersm343

There are plans to adapt all of the existing industrial land into tech centers/business districts much like what is going on with the Navy Yard right now... all that needs to be done is lower the business tax to get some job growth within the city.

I am pretty sure that area has tax exemptions for the companies that move there. I read a newspaper article that said rental rates down there are close to $10 a sf more then in Center City because of the tax difference.