The Philadelphia Regional Port Authority, which owns Philadelphia’s seaport facilities, is moving toward a $90 million purchase of 152 acres from Norfolk Southern, a transaction that could create thousands of jobs, writes Andrew Seidman for The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The board of the state agency, which calls itself PhilaPort, earlier this week authorized its staff to begin negotiations with the railroad over the former Philadelphia Navy Base land.
According to port authority documents, the site “provides the port significant opportunity to develop land” to grow its capacity to handle shipping containers and automobiles.
“Land acquisition is and continues to be the cornerstone and an utmost priority for PhilaPort in its expansion efforts along the Delaware River to create jobs and serve as an economic driver for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” stated staff in a memo ahead of Wednesday’s board meeting.
The Mustin Yard, as the land is known, features an intermodal rail facility that can offer expansion options to better connect the port with major distribution and consumption hubs nationwide.
PhilaPort spokesperson Ryan Mulvey said the port authority expects to finalize the deal sometime in the fall.
Read more about PhilaPort and what its latest acquisition could mean to the region in The Philadelphia Inquirer.
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Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on PHILADELPHIA.Today in July 2025.
