Conshohocken’s riverfront has undergone a major redevelopment since the late 1990’s. Below are a series of photos dating back as far as 1992 that focus on the area of the riverfront between the bridge and where Riverwalk Apartments can be found today.
The above photo is from 1992. Nothing you see between the Schuylkill River and Washington Street is standing today. The building to the far right is where the Riverwalk Apartments stands today. Moving upriver is where Londonbury Apartments are now. The long thin buildings are now the site of Millennium II and III. Further left you will find today Millennium I, the Residence Inn, 161 Washington (formally known as Eight Tower Bridge), Six Tower Bridge and Three Tower Bridge. The building closest to the bridge was the Florig plant. Today that is the redevelopment site for Seven Tower Bridge.
Seven years later in 1999 the first riverfront redevelopment can be viewed. One Millennium and Three Millennium are now standing. Those two buildings are just left of center on the photo. One interesting thing to note is that the white rectangle on the river was a bar/restaurant known as Noah’s (eventually it changed its name to Club Rio). It was accessed pretty close to where the helipad sits today.
By 2002 all of the current office buildings that exist on the riverfront today had been completed. Just right of center are Millennium II and III. Just left is Millennium I. Just left of Millennium I is the Residence Inn fronting Washington Street and Six Tower Bridge and Three Tower Bridge behind it. 161 Washington (formally Eight Tower Bridge) is closest to the bridge. The Floring factory is behind 161 Washington and its parking garage.
By 2004, the first apartments had been constructed. The Riverwalk at Millennium consists of the four buildings on the right side of the photo. One thing to notice is that Noah’s/Club Rio is now gone.
In this photo from 2008 you can see what eventually became Londonbury Apartments under construction. This photo is from before the fire that destroyed the structure in August of that year. Sorry it is blurry, its how it came from Google Earth.
In 2010 the Londonbury was built and it held its grand opening on June 17. The Londobury consists of the two back-to-back buildings second from the right. Also of note, in 2010 , the Oliver Tyrone Pulver Corporation purchased the Florig factory and knocked it down. This is the brown dirt near the bridge. Pulver constructed all of the buildings from Ash Street (just left of center) to the bridge. O’Neill Properties built everything from Ash Street to Riverwalk Apartments.
Between 2010 and 2016 no new office or apartment communities were built. However, you can see the Conshohocken Rowing Center behind the Riverwalk Apartments, the Conshy Dog Park just behind Londonbury and the helipad just upriver from there.
As of 2019, there are still two properties of this section of the riverfront that have not been redeveloped. As we mentioned, closest to the bridge, is the Seven Tower Bridge redevelopment site. Just right of center is a large piece of property that is currently marketed as The Millennium. It is approved, but has not started construction.
This week look for articles showing the other side of the bridge and between Riverwalk Apartments and Spring Mill Train Station.
Photo: Google Earth