Restaurant, Event Space for Sale Along Wildly Busy Stretch

We return yet again to Northern Liberties/Delaware River Waterfront where a potential gem needs polishing

Holy crap, everyone, we seemingly cannot rip ourselves away from the Greater Northern Liberties area if we tried. As the Delaware River draws us ever closer, we come with even more news around the historical industrial complex from the late 19th century at 500 N. Columbus Blvd., sitting strongly where Spring Garden St. (almost) meets the river. While portions of this complex are historically protected and facing plans for an overbuild and new construction, other non-protected parts eyed up for new construction or currently function as apartments or storage. But our trip today takes us deep into the heart of the former cold storage facility. Let’s check out things from above before we take to the ground and get to the news on what is referred to below as Building D.

An aerial of the former cold storage facility, now a series of buildings with different uses

A look at the site plan, with our focus today highlighted in red in the center of the property

When you make your way to the site today, things are extremely busy, with construction work and road work all over the place. Let’s make our way around the site before we get to today’s juicy news.

Looking south down Columbus Blvd. from Spring Garden St.

An overbuild and new commercial storefronts are part of the plans already in motion

The empty lot at 50 Spring Garden, next to a finished building used as self-storage

Plans for a 62-unit apartment have been proposed here in the past

Apartments (left) and storage (right) are separated by a driveway that is getting redesigned and repaved

The cleared corner at N. Front & Noble on the south side of the complex

97 units proposed for this corner as well

The big news? Our somewhat hidden building in the middle of the site was just listed for sale. There is no price listed, but this 17K sqft building is dripping with potential even more than in the past, given all of the action close by. And that potential could consist of a huge restaurant/bar/event space across the two stories of the structure, along with the additional potential for a roof deck - something that is far, far too rare for bar/restaurant spaces in the city. Let’s take a look at some of those renderings to remind us of when this idea first came onto our radar a few years back. Without further ado, let’s check what is being called The Powerhouse at Beach Street.

40 Spring Garden St. as it looks today, in the center of the site

A cleaned-up facade, new windows, picnic tables, landscaping - a complete 180 from today

The historical character would be highlighted, with tile, brick, steel and soaring ceilings creating tons of drama

More of the interiors - giant, open and airy

Anyone wanna go halfsies and grab this spot to turn it into something amazing? This space could be seriously awesome, and its location close to transit and roads, along with its distance from most residents in the area (at least for now), make this spot seem like a winner. This reminds us of something of a mini-Battery, embracing the raw, rugged nature of the industrial waterfront of the past. Let’s hope this sells quickly and turns into something truly special to add yet another reason for everyone to make their way down to the Delaware. Oh, and we’ll see you at Sprouts across the street soon, which is rumored to be opening June 13th. Hell yeah.