North Station sits along North Broad Street’s emerging corridor and is anchored by the Ink Building, an iconic historic building with plans to be repurposed into creative, office, and retail space. Known to some as the Iron Triangle, North Station boasts unmatched connectivity to points throughout Philadelphia with SEPTA’s rail, bus and subway lines, and to regional metropolitan areas in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, New York City, and Boston along Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor which crosses through the site.
Essence Development and SHIFT are combining their extensive development, construction and neighborhood investment experience, and proven track records in delivering equitable community-serving projects. The team plans to drive full inclusion and community involvement throughout project development and construction. As with SHIFT’s Hotel Beury and Residences at the Beury projects further north on Broad Street, community engagement will be at the forefront.
“As a North Philadelphia native, the development at North Station hits home for me,” said Alex Robles, SHIFT’s Developer-in-Residence and co-founder of Voyage Investments. “North Station presents a unique opportunity to build an inclusive project at scale. The development will be a neighborhood catalyst that returns a community asset and generates jobs for a long dormant, underinvested part of North Philadelphia.”
“The location of this site is an ideal opportunity for Essence Development to make its debut in Philadelphia as a social impact focused developer,” said Jamar Adams, Essence Development’s Founder & Managing Principal. “As a former member of the Philadelphia Eagles, I have always wanted to come back to this amazing city and be a part of an economically impactful development for an underinvested community.”
“We see this investment as an opportunity for two mission-aligned developers to be at the forefront of equitable development by positively transforming one of Philadelphia’s long-neglected sites into a community-forward and community-beneficial project,” said Kelechi Akusobi, Essence Development’s Senior Development Associate. “We are looking to create shared prosperous experiences and opportunities for North Broad’s neighbors and businesses.”
North Station is an investment through SHIFT’s Catalyst Fund that creates a national network of emerging impact real estate developers who are investing in high impact affordable housing and driving economic development in underserved neighborhoods across the country. SHIFT and its partners, like Essence, are working together to advance greater diversity, equity, and inclusion in the real estate industry.
Planning for North Station is in its initial stage.
