That budget problems pimple Philadelphia like a teenager is well documented. Such woes are forcing the closure of 23 schools. City Council budget hearings draw hundreds of protesters. The AVI system is contested (and appropriately so). But all that aside, the Mayor’s Office of Grants is an example of one effort to fill Philadelphia’s cash shortfall.

City Hall struggling

Created last July, the office’s goal is to increase the City’s capacity and capability to compete for federal, state and philanthropic grants as well as to manage this funding with transparency. New city-wide procedures will be instituted regarding the coordination, competition and application for grant funding, and the office will regularly report on the effectiveness of grant-funded projects to both funders and the public.

It’s a “strategic addition,” said Mayor Nutter in a press release. In Fiscal Year 2011, Philadelphia was awarded $1.2B…

The Philadelphia skyline as seen from I-76 East or Kelly Drive could look far different a decade from now. The entire dynamic of the city could change if some sort of connector could be built between the Art Museum area and 30th Street Station.

How such a connector might be envisioned and constructed is an item that will be explored as part of a multi-million dollar feasibility study conducted by Drexel University in conjunction with Amtrak and SEPTA, announced this month.

The huge area in question

On the ground

Drexel’s entrepreneurial president John Fry shared his vision to develop the 96-acre Schuylkill Rail Yards at 30th Street Station during a recent meeting. Fry envisions the development could be the anchor for Philadelphia’s economy for the next hundred years. It would strive to connect West Philadelphia with northwestern…

The Drexel Master Plan 2012-2017 was presented to its board of trustees last February. It applies the school’s Strategic Plan vision into a larger four principled master plan, with a scope for action: distinguish Drexel’s campus as a vibrant urban university district, bring the campus to the street, draw the community together around shared spaces, and expand its innovation community.

Plan in action

Some of those action plans include renovating the John A. Daskalakis Athletic Center at 33rd & Market, and the Peck Problem-Solving and Research Building at 33rd & Arch, as well as relocating and expanding the College of Engineering’s Hess Laboratories.

Current shot of uninspired Hess Labs

On May 30, the school issued an RFP to selected developers who expressed interest in proposing a mixed-use student housing and retail development at the current…

As we’ve covered before, the line between the southern end of Mantua and the northern end of the Drexel‘s campus has begun to blur in recent years. More and more, older buildings are redeveloped and new buildings are constructed on Spring Garden St., Haverford Ave., and others, to house the swelling student population. Today, we have the scoop on one of the larger private student housing developments planned for the area, this time at 3221 Spring Garden St.

The lot

Currently, this address consists of a large vacant lot with homes to the west and an Motor Distributor (whatever that is) to the east. Notice, the lot has

I’ve got rhythm. I’ve got music. Who could ask for anything more? How about eight artist-decorated pianos that anyone can play, set at various locations throughout University City?

Exhibition Map

Heart and Soul is an interactive public art exhibition coming June 7-17 from the folks at University City District (UCD), that seeks to combine performance and visual art and bring people together in a new way. Last night, there was a launch party

Thanks in part to a $2.75M redevelopment assistance grant from Governor Corbett, it seems that Mantua will be getting a new supermarket in the next couple of years. Termed “Westview Plaza” by development partner Aquinas Realty Partners, this project has the potential to transform a depressed section of a neighborhood that hasn’t had a supermarket for decades. This project will combine lots that stretch over four city blocks (!), encompassing the northern side of the 3600-3700 blocks of Haverford Ave., both sides of the 3600-3700 blocks of Mount Vernon St., and most of the southern side of the 3600-3700 blocks of Wallace St.

The rendering below is a preliminary site plan from the Aquinas website.

Plan is probably different already

A parking lot seems to cover the majority of this suburban pad-site retail center, with a privately owned supermarket…