Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station District Plan Honored with Prestigious Architecture Award

Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station is one of Pennsylvania’s busiest intermodal stations. With new development in the neighborhood already well underway, Amtrak joined forces with Brandywine Realty Trust, Drexel University, and SEPTA to transform the area into the region’s premier multi-modal transportation hub.

The result of that partnership is the 30th Street Station District Plan, a 35-year vision (and beyond!) for development of the community.

Recently, the 30th Street Station Distract Plan was selected from among 500 submissions from around the world to receive the 2017 Institute Honor Award for Regional and Urban Design from the American Institute of Architects.

The appeal of the plan is that transit is only the beginning—the 30th Street Station Distract Plan promises to be one of true economic importance to the community. The vision outlines a strategy for growing vibrant places to live, learn, work and play, and ultimately imagines 40 new acres of open space and 18 million square feet of new development. With a proposed investment in roads, utilities, parks, bridges, and extension of transit services, the project has the potential to create 40,000 new jobs.

Currently in the initial phase of discovery, Amtrak and its partners are taking steps to advance a series of early action projects outlined in the Plan.

• SEPTA and Amtrak have begun preliminary work to identify a preferred option for restoring the underground connection between 30th Street Station and SEPTA’s Market-Frankford Line subway/elevated line and trolley lines.

• PennDOT is collaborating with the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission to study possible changes to the I-76 on-and-off ramps at 30th Street.

• Amtrak is advancing planning and design for a new mezzanine bar and lounge inside the station and a new north concourse to serve Amtrak, SEPTA and NJ Transit customers. The Station Plaza concept for a new civic space framing all four sides of the station is also in the next stages of planning and design. In addition, late last year, Amtrak issued a Request for Proposals to lease and develop a roughly 32,500 square foot tract of land and associated air rights adjacent to 30th Street Station.

• Drexel University and its master developer Brandywine Realty Trust will begin their first development project at the front door of 30th Street Station with the renovation of the iconic Philadelphia Evening Bulletin building and accompanying construction of an exciting new public square.

To learn more about progress on the 30th Street Station District Plan, visit phillydistrict30.com.