Pennsylvania invests $30M into Navy Yard redevelopment
- barninimitra
- May 6
- 3 min read
By Paul Schwedelson I Reporter, Philadelphia Business Journal
May 6, 2025 I Updated May 6, 2025 3:15pm EDT
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is awarding a $30 million grant for the Philadelphia Navy Yard to create shovel-ready sites in an effort to attract businesses to the development.
The Navy Yard developers, joint venture partners Ensemble Investments and Mosaic Development Partners, are set to use the state funding for a 54-acre section of the South Philadelphia property. The land will be prepared for six lots to support 500,000 to 700,000 square feet of new advanced manufacturing and commercial space, according to Tuesday's funding announcement from Gov. Josh Shapiro.
The funding will support roadway and utilities work, soil excavation, grading and stormwater management as the Navy Yard continues to emerge as a life sciences, research and manufacturing hub.
"This investment accelerates our shared vision to create pad-ready sites to continue to attract top-tier businesses and position Philadelphia as a national hub for advanced industries," said Mark Seltzer, managing director of Ensemble, in a statement to the Business Journal.
The Navy Yard is one of 11 projects across the state that will collectively receive $64 million through the first round of grants from the Pennsylvania Strategic Investments to Enhance Sites (PA SITES) program, according to Shapiro and Department of Community and Economic Development Secretary Rick Siger.
The Ensemble/Mosaic joint venture is in the middle of a $6 billion master planto redevelop 109 acres at the Navy Yard. Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp. awarded development rights to Ensemble/Mosaic in 2020.
The plan calls for 9 million square feet of space to be built, expected to result in 12,000 new jobs. The redevelopment project includes lab and manufacturing space for life sciences companies, 4,000 new apartments and 235,000 square feet of retail space.
Last year, Ensemble/Mosaic completed the four-story, 137,000-square-foot life sciences building at 1201 Normandy Place, where bioMérieux is occupying 32,000 square feet. By late summer, the Navy Yard expects to welcome the first residents at 614 apartments across two buildings being developed in partnership with Korman Communities.
Ensemble/Mosaic has previously floated the possibility of a building to cater to pharmaceutical manufacturing.
“As we get to look ahead on what we think we will land at 1201 Normandy, we need to be very prepared for what the next building is so we’re not out of space,” Seltzer told the Business Journal in March.
In addition to more apartments and retail space, Ensemble/Mosaic plans to build a hotel at the Navy Yard and is weighing options to potentially redevelop a vacant eight-story warehouse for creative and cultural uses.
Shapiro secured $500 million for site development, including $400 million for PA SITES in the state's 2024-25 budget.
“When I took office as governor, my goal was to make Pennsylvania more competitive, to make us a leader in economic development, job creation, and innovation,” Shapiro said in a press release. “Our strategy recognizes that in order to compete and create opportunity, we need to invest. We've heard loud and clear that Pennsylvania needs to develop more sites we can use to sell our Commonwealth to companies that want to grow and thrive here."
Last week, pharmaceutical company Merck unveiled plans to build a $1 billion, 470,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in Wilmington, Delaware, which the company described as a “biologics center of excellence.”
To incentivize Merck to build the center in Wilmington, the state of Delaware provided the company with a $30 million grant to expand manufacturing operations in the state. The project is projected to create more than 500 full-time roles and about 4,000 construction jobs.
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