Philadelphia hopes third time’s the charm for Southport

Philadelphia Regional Port Authority seeks expressions of interest in developing terminal along Delaware River.    The Philadelphia Regional Port Authority is once again seeking a company to enter into a public-private partnership for development of the Southport Terminal Complex on the Delaware River in South Philadelphia.
   This agency released a request for expressions of interest for development of three parcels: the 119-acre Southport Marine Terminal, the 75-acre Southport West Terminal, and Pier 124 North Berth, a 1,132-foot-long finger pier adjacent to the 119-acre site. A video offers an overview of the site.
   Companies may submit expressions of interest for one, two or all of the sites.
   The agency said permitting, pre-construction and site configuration work has already been undertaken by the state at each of the sites, but PRPA said it “encourages respondents to not feel constrained by previously envisioned uses for the Southport sites. All development concepts consistent with PRPA’s mission to enhance trade and commerce will be considered.”
   This is the third time the agency has sought a developer for the property. It first did so in 2008, but then withdrew the request following the financial collapse. In 2010, the port authority authorized a 50-year lease for Delaware River Stevedores and Hyundai Merchant Marine to develop the property, but that project never came to fruition.
   This time there seems to be a fair amount of interest already in the property.
   Last month the Philadelphia Inquirer quoted Charles Kopp, chairman of the PRPA board, as saying the agency was “having discussions with Philadelphia Energy Solutions about developing a natural-gas energy hub on the Southport land that would receive natural gas from the Marcellus Shale via pipeline.
   John Brown, Jr., president of Penn Warehousing and Distribution, which operates four piers in Philadelphia and Murphy Marine downriver in Wilmington, Del., also said he was interested in the property. And the article suggested there may also be interest by the Holt group of companies, which operates the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal in Philadelphia as well as other nearby terminals in Gloucester City, N.J. Holt Logistics recently announced it is partnering with the South Jersey Marine Corp. to build a new terminal in Paulsboro, N.J., also on the Delaware River.
   The site is adjacent to railyards serviced by the Norfolk Southern and CSX.
   The Delaware River navigation channel is being deepened to 45 feet, and Joseph Menta, a spokesman for the PRPA, said that project is about 60-65 percent complete, and is expected to be finished around 2015-2016 to coincide with the opening of the new set of locks at the Panama Canal.