Developers See Dollar Signs in the Viaduct Rail Park Proposal in Philly's Center City

"Backers of a plan to transform unused rail lines north of Center City [in Philadelphia] into an elevated park say it will draw private investment to blighted areas," according to an article by Jacob Adelman. That argument in support of plans for Viaduct Rail Park, as it's called, might already be gaining proof in the form of an adaptive reuse project at 990 Spring Garden, which, according to Adelman, " sits near a stretch of the planned Viaduct Rail Park that runs through a rundown industrial district along Callowhill Street east of Broad."

"Owners of the 88-year-old building, now mostly home to city offices, are turning it into loft-style suites to attract creatively minded companies and technology firms," writes Adelman, who adds that the project is only one example of the real estate activity around the planned elevated park.

The plans for the park owe an obvious debt to the High Line in New York, and the development community has noticed, even while backers of the park continue to pursue its fundraising goals. "The Viaduct Rail Park's backers have raised about 60 percent of the $9.6 million needed for the project's first quarter-mile phase, which would lay gravel and boarded paths on a section from near Broad and Noble Streets to a junction just past 12th and Callowhill Streets," reports Adelman.