Schuylkill Yards first phase clears latest hurdle with Council committee

There’s still a lot of work to do before shovels can get put to ground, but the Schuylkill Yards project proposed for University City has cleared its latest hurdle with a City Council committee, pushing the $3.5 billion project forward.

A City Council committee voted yesterday to approve a bill to begin work on the first phase of the Schuylkill Yards, which will include the creation of a 1.3-acre elliptical park, renovation of the existing Bulletin Building, and more design and development work, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

But some members of the public who spoke at the meeting yesterday expressed their concerns about the project’s influence on their neighborhoods and stating that the developer Brandywine Realty Trust should provide more affordable housing surrounding Schuylkill Yards.

Brandywine’s Realty Trust’s CEO Jerry Sweeney said he has committed $2.1 million in affordable housing. The neighbors want four times that amount, according to the Inquirer’s report.

Schuylkill Yards is being proposed by Brandywine and Drexel University as a multi-billion dollar project that will transform West Philadelphia into a leading mixed-use, innovation hub of the region on 14 acres of land.

Although the bill has committee approval, it still requires final approval from City Council, which could take place June 22. If that approval goes through, the plan is for the developer to break ground this year.

• Schuylkill Yards first phase gets Council committee approval, despite neighbors' unrest [Inquirer]