City of Philadelphia Negotiating With Reading Viaduct Owner

City of Philadelphia Negotiating With Reading Viaduct Owner

Loft District – Philly.com reports that The Center City District and SEPTA are working on a legal agreement to start the process of creating a park on the SEPTA-owned portion of the remaining Reading Viaduct. The Center City District received grants from two foundations to pay for design work for a park, and that work has begun.  A study, commissioned by the Center City District, found that it would cost more to remove the viaduct – $50 million – than to restore the grounds into a park – only $36 million.  Reading, now based on California, reportedly owes over 1,400,000 in back taxes and the viaduct has become a blight on the neighborhood.

The Reading Viaduct, which we’ve discussed previously, is the elevated rail line built in the 1890’s that runs through the Loft District neighborhood of Center City Philadelphia.  Originally created to carry workers into Center City via train, rail service ended on the viaduct in 1984 with the opening of the Center City commuter tunnel that now carries trains into SEPTA’s Market East station beneath the Gallery.  The viaduct section that crossed Vine Street was torn down for the construction of the Vine Street Expressway and Pennsylvania Convention Center. But the remaining viaduct, which is 4.7 acres, curves above 10 city blocks north of Vine on two separate elevated railway bridges.

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Blog post compliments of CenterCityTeam’s Philadelphia Real Estate Blog

Frank L. DeFazio, Esquire
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