Permits have been issued for the construction of a two-story commercial building at 3614 Balfour Street in Port Richmond, Kensington. The building will be located in an industrial district that stretches along the Delaware River waterfront. The structure will offer several commercial spaces that will comprise a total of 5,511 square feet. Permits list Custom Fiberglass Install as the owner, Ian Toner as the design professional, and North Standard LLC as the contractor. Construction costs are listed at $550,000.
3614 Balfour Street. Credit: Google Maps
3614 Balfour Street. Looking north. Credit: Google Maps
Frankly, it is a challenge to pen an engaging piece regarding what promises to be a run-of-the-mill commercial structure in a ho-hum, sprawling industrial district (no offense to the development team, as we are sure they will do a fine job in delivering a structure perfectly well-suited for its purpose). However, it serves as a rare reminder for us to take another look at the city’s industrial waterfront.
As our regular readers know, when it comes to the Delaware River waterfront above Penn’s Landing, we focus our attention on the myriad residential developments that are rising along the shore. The waterfront was once home to a bustling port, where dozens of piers served both local and trans-oceanic marine traffic and ranked as a competitor to the likes of New York City and Boston.
The area went into sharp decline in the postwar period. As manufacturing gradually moved out of Philadelphia, Kensington lost much of its production base. In the meantime, containerization of shipping rendered the narrow, ill-equipped piers of yore obsolete. And in a final strike, the massive, elevated viaduct of the Interstate 95 stretched along the entire waterfront, effectively cutting it off from the city’s interior neighborhoods. By the turn of the millennium, most piers in the area sat rotting and abandoned, languishing after numerous grand plans to revive the stretch.
The Kensington waterfront. Looking north. Credit: Google Maps
In the past twenty years, the waterfront’s fortunes have finally began to turn around. Developments such as the Rivers (formerly Sugarhouse) Casino and the multi-towered Waterfront Square complex ushered a construction boom in their wake, which continues to surge to this day. The thousands of incoming residential units, which will fill both densely-packed townhouse complexes and imposing mid-rise apartment buildings, will allow Philadelphians to reclaim much of the long-dormant waterfront for residency and recreation alike.
However, as the permit filing at hand reminds us, extensive portions of the Delaware River waterfront remain commercial and industrial in nature, persevering against troubled waters. Time will tell whether the waterfront will see a revival as a commercial and industrial hub, or if the tide will shift toward further residential development if the district ends up being rezoned for such use.
Balfour Street, with 3614 Balfour Street on the right. Looking south. Credit: Google Maps
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The Delaware Riverfront is a challenging area to develop into a thriving community.
If we look at Manhattan and how the 2nd Street subway helped serve the community, we get a sense of understanding of how important mass transit can in of itself help revitalize an entire area.
Just look at how the Market-Frankford Line has provided Kensington an Avenue of shops along its commercial corridor.
Good city planning is vital in the rebuilding of community.
If anyone from the city planning commission reads this website, I encourage such a development and urge all members a sense of urgency in this process.