A rendering of Village Square at 36th and Haverford.

Redevelopment of a long-vacant site in the Mantua neighborhood, near 36th and Haverford, has received a green light from the city.

On Wednesday, Dec. 18, at 1 p.m., community members are invited to a celebration kicking off the redevelopment of the site. Mayor Jim Kenney, along with representatives from Lomax Real Estate, Mantua Civic Association, and Mt. Vernon Manor CDC, are also expected to recognize Councilwoman Blackwell’s service at the event, which will take place at West Philadelphia Community Center, 3535 Haverford Ave.

City Council passed legislation at its year-end meeting last week clearing the way for the project that put the finishing touches on the sale of the city land for a reported $1 million to a consortium of developers headed by Philadelphian Charles Lomax. Construction is expected to begin in spring 2020.

The development project, called Village Square, is nearly two full blocks and includes: 3601-15 Haverford Avenue, 3623-3637 Haverford Avenue, 3603-3627 Mount Vernon Street, 622-624 N. 36th Street and 628-634 N. 36th Street. The development will include a 21,000 square-foot full-service supermarket, a new studio for WURD radio, a locally-owned coffee shop, 32 affordable rental housing units, 18 for-sale workforce housing units, and 116 market-rate rental housing units.

The Inquirer‘s Inga Saffron details the development plan and its several-year history in this 2018 article. The modified plans for the project were also under the City’s Civic Design Review (see more details and images here).