PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Drexel Square, a 1.3-acre urban park in Philadelphia, officially opened on Monday.
It is just across the street from Amtrak's 30th Street Station and will be bordered to the east by the old Philadelphia Bulletin newspaper building.
For years the area was a concrete parking lot. Not anymore.
The new green space is the first completed project of Schuylkill Yards, a $3.5 billion, 14-acre mixed-use development planned by Brandywine Realty Trust.
The space is described as a deliberate mix between a plaza and a park.
"The fact that our first physical move at Schuylkill Yards was creating a public space says everything about what we are collectively trying to do to create a neighborhood," said Brandywine Realty Trust President and CEO Jerry Sweeney.
The developer further describes the design as a clear transition from Center City's urban grid to an urban oasis.
The goal is to attract highly skilled workers who will want to live at Schuylkill Yards and will desire to walk to high tech and life science jobs situated in or near the new development.
Sweeney said "We want this to be a place where people live, work and play."
A number of new high rise office and residential buildings are expected to be built there over the next 20 years.
