Northern Liberties' modern architect

DEVELOPER Bart Blatstein is the driving force behind much of Northern Liberties' latest population growth.

His Piazza at Schmidts apartments, which surround the open-air Roman-style plaza on the former Schmidt's Brewery site, near 2nd Street and Germantown Avenue, opened in May 2009 and have added about 800 residents to the neighborhood.

His Liberties Walk apartments, near 2nd Street west of the piazza, which opened in stages over the past five years, plus apartments in his other buildings, have added an additional 400 people in the past seven or eight years, Blatstein said.

The main reasons why Blatstein's Tower Investments company invested so heavily in the neighborhood was its large available land mass and its closeness to public transportation and Interstate 95.

More apartments are to come. Two projects are planned to add more than 1,000 residential units at the Piazza at Schmidts, Blatstein said.

What has made his residences so attractive to young people is that they are accompanied by hip restaurants, trendy shops and public spaces to meet up and hang out.

"What my company is doing in Northern Liberties is putting the services" needed there to make it "a walkable community," Blatstein said.

Another service many NoLibs residents are eagerly awaiting is a supermarket that Blatstein is expected to open by the summer at 2nd Street and Girard Avenue.

And set to open May 1 on Germantown Avenue near Allen Street, across from the Piazza at Schmidts, is a high-end private swim club for those 21 and over, featuring cabanas around the pool, flat-screen TVs, iPod docks, pool-side spa services, a massage room and mojitos.

The Arrow Swim Club, a partnership between Blatstein and public-relations executive Nicole Cashman, will open to the public through a membership-application process. There will be a $1,000 fee for the May 1-to-Sept. 30 season.