Catalyze

Along the Lower Schuylkill River, PIDC, the City, and our partners continue to transform the 3,700 acre district into a 21st century commercial campus. In April 2021, the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Philadelphia released its Technical Assistance Panel (TAP) Report, summarizing recommendations to encourage investment in biotech manufacturing in the Lower Schuylkill Industrial District in Southwest Philadelphia. The report was the result of a two-day meeting that included interviews with nearly 30 stakeholders by a team of real estate and land-use professionals, urban planners, and other experts. This interdisciplinary panel of volunteer experts, at the request of PIDC, explored a series of questions about how to position this area as an emerging part of a cohesive life sciences district and strategies that can improve access and connection to this area. The panel also identified methods to connect nearby residents to employment opportunities that will be created by investment in these sites. The group concluded that Bartram’s North and South are ideal locations for a biomanufacturing district which will place Philadelphia at the forefront of the life sciences sector.

The University of Pennsylvania’s Pennovation Center, is a dynamic anchor for job growth in the Innovation District. Recent investments in open space trails have connected the site to the Schuylkill River with dedicated public access and riverside amenities, according to the Pennovation Works framework plan, which aligns with PIDC’s vision to revitalize the Lower Schuylkill River district into a regional Innovation District. Early implementation efforts are underway to establish a distinctive Innovation District Gateway at 34th and Grays Ferry Avenue.

In October 2021, PIDC partnered with SEPTA, various City departments, and community groups to host a clean-up day for the Grays Avenue Corridor in Southwest Philadelphia. The corridor is the site of a year-long Complete Streets Concepts & Design Project (Complete Streets Project), led by SEPTA and supported by funding from a Helping Obtain Prosperity for Everyone (HOPE) Grant and PIDC.  Complete Streets Project will provide planning and preliminary design documents (up to 15%) needed for transportation infrastructure upgrades such as trolley modernization and roadway reconfiguration. It will also include preliminary designs for streetscape and sidewalk improvements, as well as gateway treatments to major attractions. In addition to the Complete Streets Project, SEPTA has committed to a financial investment in this corridor, to build three new trolley stations.

It was announced in September 2021 that Rite Aid is moving its headquarters to the Navy Yard. The move offers a space for Rite Aid’s various entities—including Rite Aid retail, Elixir, Health Dialog and Bartell Drugs—to conduct more in-person collaboration and company gatherings. According to an internal survey from Rite Aid, the company found a vast majority of corporate associates preferred working from home, highlighting greater flexibility, work-life balance and more productivity. However, associates also indicated a desire to have opportunities to meet, collaborate and learn together in-person. The reimagined workplace model focuses on flexibility for associates in the vibrant Navy Yard location.

Also, in September 2021, Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc., a late-stage biotechnology company developing novel T cell-based cancer immunotherapies (tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte, TIL, and peripheral-blood lymphocyte, PBL), celebrated the official opening of the Iovance Cell Therapy Center (iCTC). The iCTC, located at 300 Rouse Blvd in the Navy Yard, is the first centralized, scalable, state-of-the-art manufacturing facility dedicated to producing TIL cell therapies for patients with solid tumor cancers. The current capacity is expected to meet potential demand for thousands of patients per year with multiple types of cancers, including clinical trial patients and future commercial patients.

In November 2021, WuXi Advanced Therapies (WuXi ATU), a wholly owned subsidiary of WuXi AppTec, announced the official opening of its advanced therapies testing facility at 400 Rouse Boulevard in the Navy Yard. The new facility, which includes 140,000 square feet of laboratories, will further enhance the company’s Contract Testing, Development and Manufacturing Organization (CTDMO) business model by tripling the company’s previous testing capacity, meeting the increasing needs of customers in the cell and gene therapy industry. The new state-of-the-art facility is an expansion of WuXi ATU’s existing Navy Yard Campus. This addition will strengthen the existing analytical development and testing capacity and capability.