Imperial Ballroom (Image source: Google Street View)

Revitalization efforts continue along the 60th Street Corridor, a once vibrant area which now has several deteriorating buildings and high vacancy. A major redevelopment project, first proposed by The Partnership Community Development Corporation six years ago, is finally taking shape.

The Imperial Ballroom, a 100-year-old theater building located near 60th and Chancellor, will be refurbished for retail use, according to a report by Philly Curbed. The project will also include the creation of an adjacent community park with an outdoor movie theater and construction of eight 2-bedroom apartments (two vacant buildings will be demolished to make room for these).

The 60th Street Corridor revitalization is a joint effort between Neighborhood Restoration/West Philadelphia Real Estate, a company that has been redeveloping properties in the area for the past 20 years with the goal of providing quality affordable housing, and The Partnership CDC, a non-profit in West Philadelphia. Initially, 21 new commercial storefronts and 60 units of affordable housing were planned along South 60th Street, but George Bantel of Neighborhood Restorations told Philly Curbed that they recently completed an 81-unit project on 45 scattered sites around the corridor to “to stabilize the corridor first.”

The developers are currently looking for potential tenants for the Ballroom. If everything goes according to the plan, the project should break ground in late 2016.

For more information about the 60th Street Corridor revitalization, visit: http://www.60thstreetcorridor.com.