For the first time, the Navy Yard in South Philly is an option for apartment hunters looking to find a neighborhood to call home.
AVE Navy Yard, a $285 million project that’s been in development for nearly five years, opens leasing in April for 614 units at the former naval base and shipyard.
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“We just believe so strongly that this is a special place in Philadelphia with such great history,” said Lea Anne Welsh, president of AVE, the residential arm of real estate developer Korman Communities. “If you give people the ability to live here, there will be a lot who take advantage of that.”
In the 25 years since the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp. took over the Navy Yard, the 1,200-acre campus has emerged as one of the city’s top office markets and a resurgent manufacturing hub. It’s a scenic pocket of the city steeped in history and maritime charm, including a chapel building and 6 miles of waterfront on the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers.
The Navy Yard’s first two residential buildings, AVE Normandy and AVE Constitution, are both named after decommissioned U.S. warships. AVE Normandy has 267 units ranging from one to three bedrooms, including 100 fully furnished apartments available for short-term leases. AVE Constitution’s 347 units — studios, one-bedrooms and two-bedrooms — include 92 affordable apartments.
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Ave Normandy has open amenity spaces designed to accommodate workers and residents at the building. Rents for junior one-bedroom units start at $2,460 per month. Two-bedroom units start at $3,783.
Provided Image/Korman Communities
A kitchen in an apartment at AVE Normandy is shown above.
One of the top demographics for the new apartments will be the 17,000 employees who already work at the Navy Yard. The campus is home to apparel company URBN, medical offices for Jefferson Health and a range of life sciences, tech and industrial firms. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro awarded PIDC $30 million last year to expand advanced manufacturing and commercial space at the Navy Yard, giving the future of the campus a major vote of confidence.
The Navy Yard’s development was originally focused on creating a new employment center in Philadelphia to attract companies that otherwise might choose to open suburban offices. A deed restriction had long prevented residential development, partly due to concerns about environmental risks tied to the Navy’s use of the site. Fears about contamination have largely been allayed over the last two decades of commercial development, and when the door was opened to residential projects during the COVID-19 pandemic, PIDC chose the team of Ensemble/Mosaic to lead master planning for 109 acres at the Navy Yard.
“Going from an employment center to a neighborhood was really one of those once-in-a-generation type of opportunities,” said Brian Cohen, Ensemble’s managing director for East Coast development.
Korman Communities, based in Plymouth Meeting, was chosen to take the reins on designing the residential component.
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A bedroom from a model unit is shown above at AVE Normandy.
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One of the shared amenity spaces at AVE Constitution is shown above.
Planners think the Navy Yard will appeal to a number of target groups: people downsizing from suburban homes, business professionals who need quick access to the airport, employees who work at the Sports Complex and people who want an urban feel away from Center City.
Both AVE buildings have large amenity spaces, lounges and work stations that blend hotel, co-working and apartment-style living. The mix of short-term and traditional leases will let planners test-drive the market to see who the Navy Yard attracts.
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A common area in AVE Normandy includes a number of workspaces available for residents and companies in the Navy Yard to use.
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A lounge at AVE Normandy is shown above.
“We’re looking at this with a wide net” Welsh said. “There are 2,000 more residential units planned. We don’t know what the future holds, but we have the flexibility to build all different types of options and choices.”
Putting homes at the Navy Yard also will draw more businesses that are geared toward serving residents and visitors, turning the area into more of a destination. Although it has a reputation for being detached from the city’s transportation network, the developers say PIDC’s shuttle bus service and SEPTA’s Route 17 bus are both reliable options once people know about them. Cohen anticipates many Navy Yard residents will take advantage of the walkability and utilize bikes, cars and buses to get around.
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For AVE Constitution, Korman Communities chose a siding that would rust as an homage to decommissioned Navy vessels.
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A kitchen is shown above in a unit at the AVE Constitution. Rents for studios start at $1,928. One-bedroom units start at $2,030 and two-bedroom units start at $3,007.
At AVE Navy Yard, some of the retail space will soon be filled by Happy Bear Coffee Co. and Carlino’s Specialty Foods. Planners say leasing interest is picking up with residents starting to arrive in the next few months.
“We really want a signature restaurant,” Welsh said. “That’s what we’re working through now.”
In April, the Navy Yard plans to hold its first monthly farmers market. The hope is to build a schedule of events that give the campus experiences similar to visiting the Southeast Asian Market in FDR Park or the piers on the Delaware River waterfront.
Other future plans include converting a former naval building — once used as a receiving station for enlisted soldiers — into a Hyatt hotel.
Ben Korman, one of the leaders behind AVE Navy Yard, said his family’s firm has learned how to shape modern communities through its AVE projects in King of Prussia, Blue Bell and in cities across the country. He thinks forging a new neighborhood at the Navy Yard is as much about honoring its history as it is charting the future.
“That’s the great thing about the Navy Yard. You’re going to have both. You’re going to blend the old and the new,” Korman said. “Nobody just wants to tear everything down and rebuild.”
Cohen agrees some of the most important selling points for the Navy Yard are already there, whether it’s views of the Navy ships on the water or trees that have stood for more than 100 years.
“It’s about a mix of uses, a mix of places, a mix of architecture that all come together and create a dynamic community,” Cohen said.