Ron Russikoff grew up boating on the Delaware River, in the shadow of the Philadelphia skyline. His father and other relatives were members at the Quaker City Yacht Club, known as a working man’s club in a region with far more factories than motoryachts. The spot has a mooring field instead of slips. Even today, the local “yachts” rarely top 50 feet.
“We got married there,” says Dana Russikoff, who has been with Ron for more than 30 years now. The club became an even bigger part of the fabric of their lives after they created, installed and launched the first-ever SureShade there in 2007. “It’s where it all began,” she says. “It’s where we were inspired by boating.”
In all the years since, as the couple built up its business of retractable sun shades, the Quaker City Yacht Club rented the land where it sat. The club is member-owned and had been around since the 1880s, but its future became uncertain when the landowners decided to sell the property in the 1990s. Developers came and went. Rumors ran wild about what would happen to the Russikoffs’ beloved club. Its future remained in limbo for an uncomfortably long time.
“I had learned about this nonprofit organization, and I thought, well, you know, that’s a good way to get in the know of what’s happening along our waterfront,” Dana says. She became a board member for the Riverfront North Project, which a congressman had conceived to bring people back to the river with a greenway. “We got involved in this organization so we could be in the know and advocate for Quaker City Yacht Club.”
Dana met elected officials at the federal, state and local levels. She learned about Qualified Opportunity Zones, which the federal government created to encourage investments in economically distressed communities. The land where the yacht club sat finally sold in 2019 — the same year that Lippert Components acquired the SureShade business from the Russikoffs. Dana met with the new landowners and worked out a deal to divide out the parcel that boaters had long used. “Then we said we wanted to acquire it,” Dana says. “We had a vision for it, and we wanted to make sure Quaker City Yacht Club had a home going forward.”
In May, the Russikoffs’ One River Development LLC finalized its purchase of the 6-acre waterfront spot. Their plan is to create a $40 million development with a full-service marina that has more than 200 slips, fuel and drystack storage, along with an entertainment complex that includes several restaurants and a swimming pool. “Right now, the boats have a mooring field. There’s no slips. They have one long dock along the frontage,” Dana says. “The first thing we want to do is build out the in-water with slips, docks, power — really make it a destination not just for the members, but to bring more boaters.”
One River Marina is expected to develop in two phases. First will be the docks and slips, which they hope to have ready for boaters by summer 2026. Phase two will be the upland development with the restaurants and swimming pool. A multilevel building will include space that the Quaker City Yacht Club will rent for its clubhouse, ensuring its future.
With the land acquisition complete, the Russikoffs are now working with the marine-engineering firm S.T. Hudson in Cherry Hill, N.J., to map out the site. They’ve also been attending trade shows and leaning on their contacts with such organizations as the National Marine Manufacturers Association to understand who all the key suppliers are in terms of building a marina from scratch.
No, Dana adds with a laugh, they’ve never done this — but then again, they had to learn how to build SureShade too, and that turned out fine. “The industry is so supportive and full of resources,” Dana says.
Mostly, the couple is excited to help residents of Philadelphia reconnect with the waterfront, which was cut off from many neighborhoods years ago when Interstate 95 was built. The Russikoffs, who own a 23-foot center console, see their project not only as being good for boaters, but also as being terrific for the community.
“The Delaware River is such a unique and hidden gem,” Dana says. “I lived less than 15 minutes away from this area, and I had no idea that it existed. Sadly for a lot of folks in the Philadelphia area, they don’t realize they have this waterway in their backyard. We’re super fortunate to have community leaders and elected officials who are all on the same page about our waterfront. It’s a river of opportunity.”
This article was originally published in the October 2024 issue.
