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 The Redevelopment Authority (RDA) has short-listed two development teams for consideration as developers of the Rivage site at 4300 Ridge Avenue opposite the Falls Bridge. Onion Flats LLC, a Northern Liberties developer, and FCP-East Village PA, LLC have emerged as front-runners. These two teams will make presentations to the East Falls community at a special meeting of the East Falls Community Council (EFCC) on November 9 at 7 pm. Interested residents are encouraged to attend. The meeting will be held in Room 2 of Downs Hall at Philadelphia University. Plenty of free parking; enter campus from School House Lane.
The RDA had issued a request for proposals, receiving four submissions by its October 3rd deadline. The RDA then conducted a preliminary review and shortened the list to these two. Here is a brief summary of the proposals to give you an understanding of the general plans. The color and detail will be in the hands of the developers as they make their presentations. The East Village proposal is led by Federal Capital Partners, along with Brian Davis and David Stubbs, team members who were previously selected by the RDA to develop the site. The plan is for 160 rental units above 10,000 sq. ft. of retail space. There would be two buildings - a five-story building named River Place and a building with a U-shaped courtyard named Gustine Commons. The project is distinguished in that the two components will be separated by an open ‘mews street’ with ground floor retail facing the street as well as inward. The East Village plan proposes 183 parking spaces, including a structured parking garage. The Ridge, as the Onion Flats proposal has been named, is led by Tim McDonald, President of Onion Flats. It proposes 126 residential apartments over 8700 sq. ft of retail along Ridge Avenue. The proposal includes 138 parking spaces. The project is distinguished by its intention to become Philadelphia’s first Net-Zero-energy mixed use community and the country’s largest—this means net zero energy consumption and net zero carbon emissions annually, with all energy required for heating cooling, lighting and domestic hot water generated on site. Two representatives of the East Falls community have been assigned to give feedback and input on the proposals as part of the RDA’s review process. EFDC has designated its Executive Director, Gina Snyder, while the EFCC has appointed its Vice President, Meg Greenfield. Jessie Lawrence from the RDA is the project manager, with Bennur Koksuz overseeing the process.
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