A prominent West Philly-based developer is in the process of buying the ominous Croydon apartment building at 49th and Locust, which has become a haven for squatters and was the site of a rooftop murder in 2007.

Orens Brothers Real Estate Inc., whose main office is on the 4400 block of Chestnut, is expected to finalize the purchase of the building soon and begin work to rehabilitate the building by early next month, Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell said by phone yesterday. The firm’s officials told community members during a meeting on Monday that it plans to keep the complex’s original eight-story center structure and four-story wings intact and renovate its 127 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartment units.

A Sheriff’s Office official confirmed that building had been sold last week for $1.75 million. The building was put up for sheriff’s sale in January because the previous owners owed more than $200,000 in back taxes.

Orens Brothers has restored and rented several buildings in Philadelphia, including the luxury apartments at 2200 Arch St. In West Philly, the firm owns the apartment building on the southside of the 4400 block of Walnut (4404-4418 Walnut St.).

A boarded up eyesore rising above the West Philadelphia High School athletic field, the Croydon is known to squatters as “Paradise City.” The building was known across the city for a few days in June 2007 when a squatter, 28-year-old Tim Bradly of Philadelphia, was found dead on the building’s roof. Another squatter confessed to beating Bradly and dropping a cinder block on his head.

The Croydon building plays a large role in the documentary Squatter Days by James C. Fattu.

The first in a series of public forums on the development of 40th Street is Wednesday. Community members are invited to share their ideas on the design and character of development along the street, which has become a key commercial corridor between residential neighborhoods to the west and academic campuses to the east.

One of the event organizers, the “Friends of 40th Street,” was formed in 2004 to bring the members of neighborhood communities, businesses, and anchor institutions together for a discussion on the planning principles of the 40th Street corridor. One key idea that will be discussed is transportation along 40th street.

That conversation started seven years ago continues this month with the forums. Here’s the full schedule:

Wed, June 15 – 7:30 a.m. – 3901 Market Street
Mon, June 20 – 7:00 p.m. – Rotunda, 4014 Walnut Street
Wed, June 22 – 7:30 a.m. – Christ Community Church, 4017 Chestnut Street
Mon, June 27 – 6:00 p.m. – Greater Faith Baptist Church, 4031 Baring Street

For more information visit: www.40thst.org.

A small and relatively new West Philly non-profit recently received $100,000 to help keep school libraries open and stocked with books, just as schools look to cut funding.

The West Philadelphia Alliance for Children (WePAC) recieved the grant from the philanthropic organization Impact 100 Philadelphia on June 9 to significantly bolster its “Open Books Open Minds” program, which collects and donates books and staffs closed or severely limited libraries at several West Philadelphia elementary schools. WePAC volunteers help students select and check out books, guide research, read to students and, perhaps most importantly, they have enabled underfunded libraries at several schools just to stay open.

WePAC Executive Director David Florig called the grant a “game changer” for the organization, which started with six volunteers during the 2003-2004 school year. The money aside, the grant will help instill confidence in other potential donors because “a very significant group has chosen to invest in this,” he said.

WePAC will use the money to help keep open libraries at up to five schools and help extend services at several others. The group will also initiate new after-school “newspaper clubs.”

Made up exclusively of women ages 21 and older who each contribute at least $1,000 to a grant fund, Impact 100 Philadelphia chose WePac from some 150 applicants. A day after the grant was awarded, WePac posted a job ad for a coordinator of the Open Books Open Minds program.

Three neighborhood meetings are scheduled for this week.

• Spruce Hill Community Association (SHCA) meeting will take place tonight, Tuesday, at 7:30 p.m., at the association’s center at 257 S. 45th St. One of the topics likely to be discussed at the meeting is the enrollment situation at the Penn Alexander School (PAS).

• Thursday, June 16, is the monthly meeting with the 18th Police District University City Division’s Lt. Brian McBride. Neighbors are welcome to bring their questions and concerns regarding crime, safety and policing the neighborhoods. The meeting will take place at the Calvary Center (48th and Baltimore) at 6 p.m.

• The annual meeting and potluck dinner for the Garden Court Community Association (GCCA) is also Thursday beginning at 6 p.m. at Community College West (4725 Chestnut St.). The program will start at 6:30 p.m. and will feature presentations by guest speakers Ann Mitchell from Penn Nursing and Lt. Brian McBride (wow, he’s presenting here, too!), and discussion “Neighborhoods: the Place for Healthy Activity.” The meeting will also include general elections.

A neighbor Shifra is looking for a permanent home for her foster cat Mama. Here’s what Shifra wrote us about her cat:

Mama came into my life a couple months back when she followed me home from 49th and Baltimore. Ever since then she’s been living in my foster care, but she is searching for her forever home.

She is a small, two-year old tuxedo. She has a very sweet symmetrical black patch on her snout, and the white on the back of her front legs trails up her legs, unlike other tuxedos.

Mama is very affectionate and spunky. She expresses herself with frequent purring and a soft background pigeon coo.  She can be playful, but mostly she just likes companionship. Her tail quivers when she gets excited and she sometimes likes to curl up under the covers.

She is in very good health, recently spayed, negative for FIV and FeLV, and has been given her first round of rabies and FVRCP vaccines. Mama would do best in a home where she is the only companion animal.

If you think yours might be Mama’s forever home, please contact Shifra at: shif9101 [at] hotmail.com

This might be the easiest thing you could ever do to help out an important West Philadelphia organization. A click. That’s it. There are only four days left (until June 17) to vote for West Philly’s Community Education Center (CEC) to help them get a $50,000 grant from Maxwell House. The center is competing against nine other community organizations across the country and only top five vote-getters receive the money.

During recent weeks, the CEC was fluctuating between positions 4, 5, and 6, so every vote counts. You can come back and vote every day. This week votes are hidden so it won’t be possible to know how the CEC is doing until the end. To vote, go here: http://www.kraftbrands.com/maxwellhousecoffee/drops-of-good/Pages/community-education-center.aspx

The CEC is a non-profit community based center with the focus on arts programming, music, dance and theater for people of differing backgrounds and cultures. You can read more about the center here.