The Riverview Theater has closed and will be razed (Penn: real estate, townhouses)

[thedirtypirate]

End of an era! Warmdaddy’s has also moved to a spot off north broad.

Second movie theater I can think that has closed this year. The Ritz at the Bourse closed before the pandemic. That place was cool. The Riverview was pretty run of the mill but still very popular.

After Almost 30 Years the UA Riverview Movie Theater on Delaware Ave. Has Closed For Good!


I wonder if this building will be torn down too: https://goo.gl/maps/xUX3Bm2gFjPyJxBe8

[thedirtypirate]

Originally Posted by Millysint

End of an era? LOL! Good riddance. That place was a soulless dump that had fights regularly and at least one shooting due to poor behavior.


(In my most condescending voice) End of an era ...

Well from an urbanists perspective, there were few redeeming features of the riverview plaza so no great lose there.


I never witnessed anything wild like that the few times I had been there.

[Pennsport]

Yeah, that whole strip mall sucked - super glad it's disappearing. Prime real estate as well. Maybe someone will even be able to save that turn of the century firehouse that was most recently the steakhouse. It's been sitting vacant and slowly falling apart for years now.

[Fireshaker]

The Riverview wasn't great, but there were so few movie theaters in the city for so long that, as South Philly residents, it was our default go-to for many years. Whatever issues people might have with the location or the design or even the clientele, it still definitely met a big need for local residents, and its closure is a loss.

That said, I wonder about the plans for housing on the site. Columbus is such a weird, disjointed, mishmash of a road. And while I applaud any efforts to build it out and improve density, I really have to wonder who's going to pay $500k + to live smooshed in between I-95 and, essentially, a four-lane, pedestrian-unfriendly mini highway that's constantly jammed up at most hours of the day.

(I say that, but people apparently shelled out to live in those weird-ass new homes right next to the I-95 off-ramp north of Christian, and that's an even worse location, so I don't know. I just don't get the appeal of living on the stretch right now.)

[Pennsport]

Originally Posted by Fireshaker

The Riverview wasn't great, but there were so few movie theaters in the city for so long that, as South Philly residents, it was our default go-to for many years. Whatever issues people might have with the location or the design or even the clientele, it still definitely met a big need for local residents, and its closure is a loss.

That said, I wonder about the plans for housing on the site. Columbus is such a weird, disjointed, mishmash of a road. And while I applaud any efforts to build it out and improve density, I really have to wonder who's going to pay $500k + to live smooshed in between I-95 and, essentially, a four-lane, pedestrian-unfriendly mini highway that's constantly jammed up at most hours of the day.

(I say that, but people apparently shelled out to live in those weird-ass new homes right next to the I-95 off-ramp north of Christian, and that's an even worse location, so I don't know. I just don't get the appeal of living on the stretch right now.)

They're going to build directly across the street (plot immediately to the south of Comcast building) at some point. if someone buys a house in the current strip mall, they will probably have river views from a roof-deck and river access directly across the street. I'm sure they will buffer the west side with extra insulation to block out some of 95 noise. Couple that with immediate highway access and proximity to major shopping and I think it could be desirable. Also, all of Columbus is going to start getting built up. There are only a few places in the city where you get water views and water access. I could even see a Marina opening close by now that the NYC conglomerates have bought up all the piers near Morgan's Pier and are planning housing on them. Could be a pretty sweet spot in a couple years.

Or, they could keep it retail - just way better retail than the hot mess that is there now. Movie theatres are all well and good, but to say that served a neighborhood purpose is coming from someone who doesn't live in Pennsport. If you live in the neighborhood, that place was like fightclub in the parking lot. People got jumped walking by there. It was just bad news. Cops were there every single night.

[thedirtypirate]

Originally Posted by Fireshaker

The Riverview wasn't great, but there were so few movie theaters in the city for so long that, as South Philly residents, it was our default go-to for many years. Whatever issues people might have with the location or the design or even the clientele, it still definitely met a big need for local residents, and its closure is a loss.

That said, I wonder about the plans for housing on the site. Columbus is such a weird, disjointed, mishmash of a road. And while I applaud any efforts to build it out and improve density, I really have to wonder who's going to pay $500k + to live smooshed in between I-95 and, essentially, a four-lane, pedestrian-unfriendly mini highway that's constantly jammed up at most hours of the day.

(I say that, but people apparently shelled out to live in those weird-ass new homes right next to the I-95 off-ramp north of Christian, and that's an even worse location, so I don't know. I just don't get the appeal of living on the stretch right now.)

agreed, I don't exactly get the appeal of living along Columbus, outside easy access to the highway if you need to commute for work.

[cpomp]

Does anyone have the details of its replacement? I sure hope not more townhouses. I would love to see some sort of entertainment venue in this plan. It would stink to see Delaware Ave turn into a boring residential road with walled off townhouse communities.

[moneymkt]

Thought it was already closed

[rowhomecity]

It would be great to see this replaced with a well designed mid rise building, similar to One Water Street. The location is convenient for commuters who work out of the city and is close enough to Passyunk and Queen Village to make it desirable.

[chessimprov]

Originally Posted by thedirtypirate

agreed, I don't exactly get the appeal of living along Columbus, outside easy access to the highway if you need to commute for work.

Simply location and cost. It's going to be cheaper because of those factors. It's not too far from the city. It's close enough to waterfront activities. Parking will be more available (at least for whatever is developing) with the underpass area of the highway. Some people will be able to phase out the highway factor.

One thing that does kinda scare me though is I remember some story where part of the highway fell off one time nearly missing a construction worker. I can't find it online. I think it was like 5 years ago.