Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station is one of the busiest and most iconic transit hubs in the nation. Its location at the nexus of Philadelphia’s Center City and University City Districts also makes it potentially one of the most valuable real estate tracts. Still, the land surrounding the station is primarily dominated by rail yards and support facilities for the various passenger and freight carriers. Amtrak, Drexel University, and Brandywine Realty Trust, in a landmark collaboration, engaged a multidisciplinary team, including Parsons Brinkerhoff, SOM, and OLIN to develop a master plan for the 30th Street Station precinct. This plan aligns the goals of transit connectivity, urban development, and economic resurgence under one umbrella. It builds upon several ongoing initiatives by Amtrak to increase ridership and transit efficiency over the next thirty years and identify strategies for increasing multimodal connectivity within Philadelphia, between Center City, University City, West Philadelphia, and beyond. The plan also assesses the potential for developing air rights above the approximately 100 acres of rail yards surrounding the station, identifying if and how a platform structure might be constructed to develop the space above the rail yards without impacting current and future rail operations.
The District Plan lays out a vision for the next 35 years and beyond to accommodate a projected 20 to 25 million passenger trips per year – double the current capacity – circulating through an enhanced 30th Street Station, build 18 million square feet of new development, and create 40 acres of new open space for the city, including a phenomenal new civic space – Station Plaza – at the station’s front door.
