A City Council committee on Tuesday approved the first phase of Schuylkill Yards, a 14-acre, $3.5 billion project that developers say will transform University City into a "knowledge neighborhood."
Drexel University teamed up with Brandywine Realty Trust for the project, announced last year.
But developers have yet to reach an agreement with community groups on minimizing the impact to the adjacent neighborhoods, according to a Philadelphia Inquirer report.
The developers and community groups are still far apart over how much how much the developers will give to build affordable housing in surrounding neighborhoods such as Mantua and Powelton Village. Brandywine has committed $2.1 million, but the neighborhood groups want more than four times that amount, the report stated.
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"One of the dividing lines is the community groups are very focused on the overall impact of the entire Schuylkill Yards Development, which will again take place over 20 to 30 years,” Jerry Sweeney, Brandywine's president and chief executive officer, said in the report. “We’re very focused on … the first phase.”
The proposal includes a mix of retail, residences, offices and labs. The first phase would involve creating a 1.3-acre park, renovating the former Philadelphia Bulletin building at 3025 Market Street and further design and development work, according to the Inquirer.
The project fits into the city's big-picture plans to create a 30th Street Station District over the several decades. The plan, part of an effort to shift the Center City skyline westward as new high-rises emerge across the Schuylkill, shows 40 new acres of open space and some 18 million square feet of new development, including an anchoring mixed-use neighborhood atop 88 acres of rail yards on the western bank of the river.