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Listen to the audio files
from our January 18 Infill Philadelphia KICK OFF event

Infill Philadelphia is a five-year initiative created by the Community Design Collaborative to promote workable solutions for revitalizing urban neighborhoods through innovative design. Infill development— the reuse and repositioning of underutilized buildings and sites — is an essential part of renewing neighborhoods and knitting them back together.

Infill Philadelphia will be implemented in three phases, each focusing on a different type of infill development. Each phase will feature site-specific design projects; opportunities for public dialogue; and participation by community-based organizations, design firms, and local and national experts.

Generate workable design solutions for under-utilized physical assets in Philadelphia neighborhoods.

Promote systems change by developing exciting ideas that will help Philadelphia leaders re-think the future of our neighborhoods and city.

Foster an understanding of the value of good design among community leaders and developers.

Each phase of Infill Philadelphia will focus on a different aspect of infill development and feature site-specific design projects; opportunities for public dialogue; and collaborations between community development corporations, design firms, and local and national experts.

Commercial corridors have long been the pulse of healthy neighborhoods. Neighborhood shopping streets offer surrounding communities easy access to shopping, employment and entrepreneurship opportunities, commercial corridors are essential elements of urban living at its best. Even today, they remain critical "zippers" — binding neighborhoods together and keeping residents and businesses' dollars local. Commercial corridors help to sustain neighborhoods: promoting local investment, boosting property values, and preserving the urban context of neighborhoods. The Community Design Collaborative selected these important neighborhood gathering spots and retail centers for the first phase of Infill Philadelphia.

The Collaborative will add the design community's voice to the public conversation about how Philadelphia can re-envision its neighborhoods through site-specific design challenges. Three volunteer design firms have signed on to work with three community-based organizations to tackle design issues critical to spurring commercial corridor development in three Philadelphia neighborhoods. A jury with diverse expertise will stay engaged throughout the design process, reviewing the projects and helping the teams deliver innovative, realizable design solutions.

Community Design Collaborative is a volunteer-based community design center that provides pro bono preliminary design services to nonprofit organizations; promotes best practices in community design and development; and offers design professionals a unique way to volunteer their skills in service of neighborhoods. Founded in 1991 as a program of AIA Philadelphia, the Collaborative is an independent 501 c3 with a network of more than 600 volunteers.

Philadelphia Local Initiatives Support Corporation helps resident-led, community-based development organizations transform distressed communities and neighborhoods into healthy ones - good places to live, do business, work and raise families. By providing capital, technical expertise, training and information, LISC supports the development of local leadership and the creation of affordable housing, commercial, industrial and community facilities, businesses and jobs.

The New Angle: Strategies for Restaurant Retrofit
People's Emergency Center CDC
CICADA Architecture/Planning, Inc.

The People's Emergency Center CDC is working with a family-owned company to expand The New Angle Lounge, a neighborhood pub, into a full-service restaurant and jazz club. The design challenges are to make the building more inviting and open to the street, address the feasibility of the proposed reuse, and preserve historic elements while making the business a beacon for the Lancaster Avenue Commercial Corridor.

The Partnership CDC wants to explore the reuse of the Imperial Theater, preferably by a national retail franchise. The theater is one of a cluster of redevelopment sites between Walnut and Spruce, the future southern gateway for the consolidated 60th Street Commercial Corridor. The design challenges are to test the site's potential for new retail uses, consider different levels of preservation of the existing theater structure, and explore the incorporation of adjacent or nearby vacant properties.

The East Passyunk Avenue Business Improvement District is considering how to improve and connect key intersections along the corridor. This project will focus on the intersection of Broad Street, East Passyunk Avenue, and McKean Streets. The design challenges are to create a more unified, higher-profile gateway and link the intersection with four other key crossroads along the Avenue.

Commercial Corridors, the first of three phases surrounding Infill Philadelphia, is funded through an 18-month, $175,000 grant from the William Penn Foundation. Philadelphia LISC is also contributing resources, guidance and funding to the project. The initiative is also supported in part by the City of Philadelphia Office of Housing and Community Development.

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