Russikoffs Preserve Quaker City Yacht Club and Plan One River Marina on the Delaware River

Ron and Dana Russikoff grew up with the river in their lives. Ron spent his childhood boating on the Delaware River beneath the Philadelphia skyline, and many family members belonged to the Quaker City Yacht Club—a modest, working-class club born in a region known more for factories than for luxury yachts. The club historically relied on a mooring field rather than slips, and most local boats rarely exceeded 50 feet in length.

The club is where the Russikoffs’ story together began. “We got married there,” Dana says of Quaker City Yacht Club, and it was also the place where they launched their business in 2007, installing the first-ever SureShade retractable sunshade. Over the years, their company grew into a recognized maker of marine shade systems, but the yacht club remained a personal and professional touchstone for the couple.

Despite its long history—the club dates back to the 1880s—Quaker City Yacht Club’s future was threatened when the land it used was put on the market in the 1990s. The club is member-owned and rented the parcel for decades, but as developers cycled through proposals, the club’s fate lingered in uncertainty. Rumors and speculation circulated for years while members waited to learn whether their waterfront home would survive.

To better understand the waterfront’s shifting landscape, Dana joined the Riverfront North Project board, a nonprofit effort conceived to reconnect neighborhoods to the river through a greenway. Through that role she met elected officials at the federal, state and local levels and learned about tools like Qualified Opportunity Zones, created to encourage investment in economically distressed communities. Those connections helped the Russikoffs shape a strategy to protect the club and the shoreline they loved.

When the property ultimately sold in 2019—the same year Lippert Components acquired the SureShade business—the Russikoffs met the new landowners and negotiated to carve out the parcel historically used by boaters. With a vision to secure the club’s future and expand public access to the river, Dana and Ron formed One River Development LLC and pursued acquisition of the waterfront site.

In May, One River Development finalized the purchase of the six-acre waterfront property. Their plan calls for a roughly $40 million development centered on a full-service marina — One River Marina — featuring more than 200 slips, fuel service, and dry-rack storage. The upland portion will include an entertainment complex with multiple restaurants and a swimming pool, and a multilevel building will provide space the Quaker City Yacht Club can rent for a new clubhouse, preserving its long-standing presence on the waterfront.

The project is designed in two phases. Phase one focuses on constructing docks, slips, and on-water infrastructure—power, moorings and docks—that the site currently lacks beyond a single long frontage dock. The goal is to have the docks and slips ready for boaters by summer 2026. Phase two concentrates on the upland amenities: restaurants, a pool and the multiuse building that will house the club and commercial tenants.

With the land secured, the Russikoffs are working with marine engineering firm S.T. Hudson of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, to map the site and develop construction plans. They are also reconnecting with industry peers and suppliers—drawing on contacts at trade shows and organizations such as the National Marine Manufacturers Association—to assemble the right partners for building a marina from the ground up.

Neither Ron nor Dana claims to be a marina developer by trade. Dana chuckles that they’ve never undertaken a project on this scale before, but they learned how to build a business with SureShade and plan to apply the same determination and industry support to One River Marina. “The industry is so supportive and full of resources,” she says.

Beyond serving boaters, the Russikoffs view the marina as a broader community initiative to reconnect Philadelphia neighborhoods to the Delaware River. For decades, Interstate 95 severed many communities from direct access to the waterfront, making stretches of the river feel hidden. The couple, who own a 23-foot center console, hope their project will help residents rediscover the river in their own backyard.

“The Delaware River is a unique and often overlooked asset,” Dana says. “I lived less than 15 minutes away from this area and didn’t even realize it existed. We’re fortunate to have community leaders and elected officials aligned on revitalizing the waterfront. This project is about preserving history, expanding boating access, and creating a riverfront destination for Philadelphia.”

This article was originally published in the August 2024 issue.