Master Plan Envisions New Neighborhood Around Philly’s 30th Street Station

A 90-year old Philadelphia train station will be the centerpiece of “an entirely new neighborhood of residential and commercial office towers, retail, cultural amenities and 40 acres of open public space, all of it built atop railyards and on land adjacent to the station,” writes David Kidd in Governing. “After 90 years of service, 30th Street Station is still an important part of Philadelphia’s intercity and commuter transportation network, serving also as a hub for local subway, trolley and bus routes.”

The $10 billion 30th Street Station District Plan, a partnership between Amtrak, Brandywine Realty Trust, Drexel University, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, envisions up to 18 million square feet of new development and will be implemented over the next several decades.

The project comes alongside renovations to the train stations that will incorporate modern amenities and “improved operational efficiencies” designed to handle a doubling of traffic in the next 25 years.