Trolley Portal Gardens, the development project transforming the 40th Street Trolley Portal into a more welcoming public space, has been completed, and this Thursday, Sept. 27, the public are invited to a grand opening. The event will be held from 5 – 7 p.m. and will include a ribbon-cutting ceremony with city and state representatives, including Mayor Jim Kenney and Senator Anthony Williams, as well as speakers from University City District, SEPTA and business owners.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony will begin at 5:15 p.m. and will be followed by an open house and refreshments. The event is free and open to the public (you can RSVP here).  Continue Reading

The Mantua Greenway rendering.

Here’s an opportunity for local artists to help create public art in West Philadelphia’s Mantua neighborhood. Mt. Vernon Manor CDC and the Friends of the Mantua Greenway are seeking a qualified team of artists to work on public art installations along the future Mantua Greenway site, a new bike and walking trail. The project includes the design, creation, and installation of three community-supported, semi-permanent elements that “will inspire curiosity and foster engagement with the Mantua Greenway project during its construction phases,” according to the project description.  Continue Reading

Redesigned Garden Court community garden rendering provided by the Community Design Collaborative.

Community members are invited this Friday (Sept. 21) to learn more about a major fundraising effort in West Philly’s Garden Court neighborhood – the Corner Park Renovation project – which includes renovation of the community tennis courts and redesign of the community garden at 47th and Spruce.

Garden Court Community Association is partnering with the Community Design Collaborative on this project. The Collaborative prepared a plan and diagram for the redesign of the garden after conducting a community input process last spring. They will be presented at Friday’s event. The plan for the garden includes reconfiguring garden plots to allow more residents to garden, creating a new pedestrian-only entrance and gathering space with picnic tables and chairs, and more.  Continue Reading

A monthly Cedar Park zoning meeting will get underway on Tuesday, Sept. 18 at the Calvary Center for Culture and Community (48th and Baltimore). One of the development projects to be discussed at the meeting is a proposal for a self-service pet washing space at 806 S. 47th Street, in the space formerly occupied by Goffredo Plumbing (see Google map above).

The new business requires a special exception for the first-floor commercial space in the three-story mixed use building because it’s an “animal service.” The residential use above will remain unchanged. Stay tuned for more information.

More details about tomorrow’s meeting, which begins at 7 p.m., is available here.

The developers of the sprawling former Provident Mutual Life Insurance property at 46th and Market Streets began a series of stops at neighborhood groups last night at the Spruce Hill Community Association (SHCA) monthly board meeting to garner support and input for its proposed health campus.

A partnership between Philadelphia-based commercial developers Iron Stone and the Public Health Management Corp. (PHMC) will develop the 13-acre site, once slated to be the new home of the Philadelphia Police Department.

PHMC will run three programs at the site, including a federally funded health center that will provide primary care and dental services, a public health office and a 20- to 30-bed overnight site. Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) plans to operate a children’s mental health services center from the site and several day care providers, including the YMCA, are interested in opening a large (some 120 children) facility, Andrew Eisenstein of Iron Stone Real Estate Partners told the SHCA board.  Continue Reading

The SHCA monthly board meeting will be held this Tuesday, Sept. 11 at the Spruce Hill Center (257 S. 45th St.). Community members are invited to learn more about the proposal for the development of the Provident Mutual Life Insurance building at 4601 Market Street, which will be presented by Andrew Eisenstein, founder of Iron Stone Real Estate Partners.

After the Kenney administration cancelled plans to relocate Philadelphia police headquarters into the building last year, the city began seeking other potential developers for the 15-acre property. Iron Stone was selected as a developer for the building, and their plan is to transform the building and the surrounding land into a public health campus, according to a recent report by Philly.com.

Iron Stone, a Philadelphia-based developer, will partner with the Public Health Management Corp. health institute on this project.

The meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m.