Delaware River Waterfront Corporation (DRWC)
HR&A positioned Philadelphia to reconnect with its Delaware River waterfront through development of a new neighborhood and open space at Penn’s Landing. Our work with the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation advanced from the 2011 Master Plan through developer selection in 2020, setting the stage for an 11.5-acre park and 2,000 apartments along with hotel and retail that will transform this 45-acre site.
Beginning in 2010, HR&A worked as part of a multidisciplinary team to prepare a plan and implementation strategy for waterfront access and redevelopment along a seven-mile stretch of the Delaware River, separated from the rest of Philadelphia by I-95. For this Central Delaware Master Plan, we conducted market analyses to define a scale and mix of development that would extend Philadelphia’s neighborhoods to the water’s edge, while leveraging private development to fund parks, trails, and essential infrastructure to define the district’s identity. In 2013, HR&A refined development options for the Penn’s Landing site, advising on parcelization, phasing, and infrastructure coordination as part of the multidisciplinary team charged with the Penn’s Landing Feasibility Study – which catalyzed creation of the in-construction Park at Penn’s Landing, decking over I-95 to reconnect with downtown. Following the DRWC’s issuance of a developer solicitation in 2019, HR&A prepared an economic impact analysis of submitted responses to support developer selection for an initial phase of development.
Over more than a decade, HR&A’s work has positioned Penn’s Landing to deliver transformative public spaces alongside substantial private development, reconnecting Philadelphia neighborhoods to the Delaware River and turning a legacy industrial waterfront into a dynamic economic driver for the next century.
Central Delaware Master Plan:
- 2011 Commonwealth Gold Award from 10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania
- 2012 AIA Institute Honor Award for Regional and Urban Design
- 2012 AIA New York Chapter Honor Award
- 2013 AIA New York State Award of Excellence
Penn’s Landing Redevelopment Study:
- 2015 American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) Professional Award of Excellence
- 2015 American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) National Recognition Award
- Adaptation & Resilience
- Development Advisory
- Downtown, Corridor, & Neighborhood Revitalization
- Mission-Driven Real Estate Planning
- Parks & Open Space
- Economic & Fiscal Impact Analysis
- Funding & Financing
- Market & Financial Analysis
- Master Planning
- Program Management
- Public/Private Partnership
- Real Estate Analysis
- Non-Profit
- New York
