A recent site visit by Philadelphia YIMBY has documented the latest construction progrees at Northbank, a 491-unit complex rising at 2001 Beach Street on the Delaware River waterfront in Fishtown. Designed by ISA, Northbank will now offer 387 single-family townhomes and 104 duplex units. A total of 781 parking spaces will be included, of which 199 will be located outdoors. Below we share a project update that shows its townhouses in various stages of construction.
Northbank at 2001 Beach Street. Credit: Google
Northbank Site Plan. Credit: ISA.
Current planned aerial view of Northbank. Credit: ISA.
Former planned aerial view of Northbank. Credit: ISA.
At this point, the multi-block development already resembles a complete, largely self-contained neighborhood. Adjacent townhouses in various states of completion form clearly defined street walls that frame views toward the river. However, much work still remains to be done, from construction of the remaining housing stock to street finishes and planting of greenery.
2001 Beach Street. Photo by Jamie Meller
2001 Beach Street. Photo by Jamie Meller\
2001 Beach Street. Photo by Jamie Meller
2001 Beach Street. Photo by Jamie Meller
2001 Beach Street. Photo by Jamie Meller
2001 Beach Street. Photo by Jamie Meller
2001 Beach Street. Photo by Jamie Meller
2001 Beach Street. Photo by Jamie Meller
2001 Beach Street. Photo by Jamie Meller
2001 Beach Street. Photo by Jamie Meller
2001 Beach Street. Photo by Jamie Meller
2001 Beach Street. Photo by Jamie Meller
2001 Beach Street. Photo by Jamie Meller
2001 Beach Street. Photo by Jamie Meller
2001 Beach Street. Photo by Jamie Meller
2001 Beach Street. Photo by Jamie Meller
2001 Beach Street. Photo by Jamie Meller. December 2022
2001 Beach Street. Photo by Jamie Meller
2001 Beach Street. Photo by Jamie Meller
Rendering of Northbank. Credit: ISA.
Rendering of Northbank. Credit: ISA.
Rendering of Northbank. Credit: ISA.
Rendering of Northbank. Credit: ISA.
Rendering of Northbank. Credit: ISA.
Rendering of Northbank. Credit: ISA.
Rendering of Northbank. Credit: ISA.
Northbank at 2001 Beach Street. Credit: ISA Architects
The Anderson at Northbank at 2001 Beach Street. Credit: ISA Architects
The proposed waterfront trail at Northbank at 2001 Beach Street. Credit: ISA Architects
Northbank at 2001 Beach Street. Credit: ISA Architects
The Anderson at Northbank at 2001 Beach Street. Credit: ISA Architects
The Brooks at Northbank at 2001 Beach Street. Credit: ISA Architects
The Essex at Northbank at 2001 Beach Street. Credit: ISA Architects
Northbank at 2001 Beach Street. Credit: ISA Architects
Northbank at 2001 Beach Street. Credit: ISA Architects
At this pace of construction, we may expect much of the development to stand largely complete by the end of the year.
Subscribe to YIMBY’s daily e-mail
Follow YIMBYgram for real-time photo updates
Like YIMBY on Facebook
Follow YIMBY’s Twitter for the latest in YIMBYnews
These renderings confuse me, you show several renderings that appear to be newer and show apartment buildings? Are those happening or no?
No apartments, just townhomes and more townhomes.
What an incredibly uninspired site plan. This is a huge missed opportunity on what could have been a wonderful, mixed-use project at a fabulous location. -Jim
Fabulous location ?
Have you ever walked around there? Really, don’t lie like most of the other people on these development forums who would get lost at city hall.
I agree..
Very high parking ratio of 1.6 spaces/unit for such a transit-oriented location. Why are we still doing this in the year of our lord 2022?
The site was the former location of the Cramps Shipyard starting in 1830 through the mid 20th century. That shipyard generated a substantial number of ships during that time period including battleships and submarines. Its main business were commercial vessels.
I would worry about living there during a intense storm event even though the developer has raised the ground surface by about 2 feet. Even if you are safe in the upper floors of the house during an event, the loss of utilities and contamination of your house and surrounding area could be substantial.
Unwalkable, uninspired hellscape. Can’t fathom why anyone would choose to live there.
Seems overstated? The homes are lovely and come with parking adjacent to an area of town where parking is very difficult. Plus, there’s literally an Applebees nearby. I don’t know how much more suburban you can get than Applebees. Granted, yes, I’d like to see more of a walkable connection to Fishtown, but that will hopefully come.
The renderings promise 3 dimensional facades, with cantilevers, loggia, recessed windows and pop-outs, but the finished product has few, if any, of these. Northbank is a boring monoculture with many homes, even more cars and no retail, isolated from the rest of Philly by industrial warehouses and I-95. It’s not walkable and even if it were, there’s nothing to walk to. Mail is not delivered to one’s home, but to a mailbox at the end of the street.
This development does not fit with Delaware River Waterfront Corporation’s plan for the central riverfront. In addition, the townhomes’ angled configuration cuts off views of the river for many residents. Street names like Riverview, Pierview, Pettyview, Beachview and Riseview. Riseview — really? All from the low $600,000s and up, plus a $165 monthly homeowners fee. The HOA sets rules, such as 2 pet limit per household. Yikes.
The only community amenities are a small “park” and a walking/biking trail. No club room or community lounge, fitness center, pool, co-working space, barbecue/grilling pavilion, benches (there’s no place to sit outside of one’s home), business center, private meeting rooms, cyber lounge, conference room, screening room, fire pit, planting garden, library, or community events. There’s little opportunity to meet or interact with neighbors. Expect several more years of construction. Public transportation is not an option because it’s not accessible.
Nearest SEPTA Transit stop is Richmond and Girard (Route 15) which involves a significant walk around the industrial buildings to get to. But if they have 1.6 cars per unit, why bother?
Agree Rays –it’s not a pleasant walk.
They’re doing a marvelous job I’ve been to an open house fell in love yes ilove a self sustained neighborhood believe me the finished product will be glorious, why northbank he hate so much.
Such a shame. This development could have been astounding. Houses should have been built on steel stilts to deal with the flooding issue. You won’t be able to sue the builder when your home is flooded. Good number of parking spaces but no amenities such as a dog park, gym, convience store, kiddie park, etc.
Smh. A waste of prime, Center City waterfront real estate. If you look at some of the ‘world class’ cities in the United States, such as Chicago, Seattle, Boston, none are wasting their downtown waterfront space building low-rise single family housing, especially cheap, awfully bland and mundane, that reminds me of the extremely dated, low-rise box looking townhomes on the 1200 block South Street. Philadelphia has had centuries worth of boring, low, and conservative architecture, enough is enough. New Center City developments should serve as the Gold standard for the rest of Philadelphia’s neighborhoods, not the other way around. You’ll find much more inspiring and innovative housing developments in Fishtown or the Navy Yard.
FYI: I know that technically, Fishtown is not Center City, but it still is a surrounding, adjacent neighborhood to Center City, and the waterfront is seamlessly connected to Northern Liberties and Old City via the Delaware avenue thoroughfare (which could have had the potential to be a scaled down version of Lakeshore Drive).
Looks like more ugly, cheaply constructed, overpriced stick houses to me.
Should just turn that into a park. Will be underwater in 20-30 years.
Nice as long as they don’t do sec 8 n low income housing it will stay nice