4 min read December 2023 — Invest: spoke with Joseph Forkin, president of the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation, to discuss how the organization leverages private and public funding and partnerships to create unique spaces along the Delaware River, which combine the arts, tourism, and private development. “Part of the strategy for our master plan is to create a compelling public realm that wraps placemaking and programming around it,” he said.
What have been the key highlights for DRWC over the last year?
We’re a nonprofit organization that works closely with the city of Philadelphia and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to develop the riverfront. It’s been a tremendous time for us, breaking ground on our largest project to date, the Penn’s Landing Cap and Park, 11.5 acres of new park space that will be created over interstate I-95 in Philadelphia between Chestnut Street and Walnut Street and Front Street and the River. It’s an over $400 million project that we spent many years cobbling funding together for, with many partners involved, including the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, city of Philadelphia, and philanthropic supporters such as the William Penn Foundation, Pew Charitable Trusts, and the Knight Foundation. That broke ground this year and it’s been keeping us very busy as it transforms the Delaware riverfront.
We’ve revised our economic impact study as well. It shows how we’ve influenced a number of industries and sectors. Part of the strategy for our master plan is to create a compelling public realm that wraps placemaking and programming around it to invite diversity and welcome more people and to act as a catalyst for private development.
What are the main focuses of the master plan?
The tenets of our master plan are simple: to create a park every half mile on a six-mile stretch of the riverfront so every neighborhood has a destination. The next pillar is to connect that through our multi-use trail so people can seamlessly move through the waterfront. Third, is to penetrate the barrier of I-95. We want to improve streets going under the interstate and make it easier for people to enter and enjoy these spaces at the waterfront. Penn’s Landing is the largest of all these projects combined. It’s a nearly 12-acre connection back to the city and the historic core of Philadelphia. It uses new technology and building techniques to achieve something better than ever before. There are many areas where it isn’t apparent there is a waterfront right there, so this project will give clearer vistas for people to know they’ve arrived. Our South Wetlands Park is one of the most innovative projects to appropriate dilapidated marine infrastructure, manipulating those spaces to create a better ecology and environment for the river, coastal resilience, and aquatic life. We can also layer on top of that public access and education, including walkability, kayaking, and learning opportunities. We’re also working on Graffiti Pier, an old coal-tipping pier that has become a haven for street artists to practice their craft. It’s an incredibly unique opportunity to preserve an asset and wrap programming around it to allow artists to still use the site while engaging the public with it.
How are partnerships influencing the work of the DRWC?
In addition to our philanthropic partners, governmental partners, and community partners, corporate sponsorship is very important to us. Independence Blue Cross has funded our River Rink and Winterfest and Summerfest throughout the years. The fact that we’ve partnered with them for over 30 years is even more astounding and shows their dedication to Philadelphia and the riverfront by supporting healthy lifestyles. PECO has been a great partner. They have underwritten our multicultural series for many years as well, among other support. We’re looking to expand these models with our Cap projects to add more amenities and grow those relationships over time.
We’re also seeing new partnerships. Cherry Street Pier is a cultural space with 14 artists in residence within refurbished shipping containers. It also has a robust food and beverage program and a dynamic schedule of exhibitions, markets, and events. It’s been tremendously successful for us and arts organizations around the city. Funders have been critical in providing capital investment and supporting our federal grants, giving us the seed funding as a starting point.
What are the major challenges facing the waterfront right now?
Given the current market, some private developments in need of capital resources and financing have found it difficult in the lending environment. We’re waiting for financing on a couple of projects as a result until rates are more favorable.
A primary challenge is that we want to see private development along the waterfront to create place, jobs, and visitorship. This creates a larger tax base. If there’s a difficult lending environment or a slowdown in the market, that’s where I see great opportunities. If we’re working in the public realm as a catalyst, we are ready when private development restarts and interest rates drop. The other opportunity is in legislation. The Infrastructure Act will be a great chance to chase competitive funding to complete our larger projects. As a riverfront, coastal resilience is always front of mind. We’ve applied for more grants to update these parts of our master plan specifically to look at the science and deploy best practices.
What is your outlook over the next few years?
Our outlook is positive but turbulent. Construction has been disrupted somewhat but I remain optimistic because we’ll hopefully see more public funds available to complete our public realm projects to continue the transformation of the riverfront. It is my hope that Interest rates will also come down over the next 18 months to kickstart new private development. We also have a new mayor and working with the Parker administration’s priorities will be an exciting opportunity. We want to elevate Philadelphia out of some unfortunate news cycles around gun violence and the opioid epidemic and be a part of a long-term solution that will bring more positivity to the city.
For more information, visit:
