US EditionPHILADELPHIA BREAKS GROUND ON TEN-BLOCK TRANSFORMATION IN CENTER CITY
The $150 million project will enhance South Broad Street with landscaping, lighting, public art, and infrastructure upgrades over 10 years, aiming to boost pedestrian use and tourism.
- On Jan. 14, 2026, Avenue of the Arts, Inc. broke ground on AveArts 2.0, a $150 million, decade-long plan to remake South Broad Street from City Hall to Washington Avenue; Carl Dranoff said, `This is Philadelphia claiming its future`.
- More than three decades after installation, the existing streetscape with planters, pavers and retro lights requires fixes to underground infrastructure, including water leaking into the subway concourse, Avenue of the Arts, Inc. leadership says.
- Beginning Jan. 30, 2026, crews will start work on the median between Spruce and Pine in front of the Kimmel Center, with LF Driscoll as contractor, Aegis as owner's representative, and a $15 million budget per block including a $1 million maintenance endowment.
- The Spruce–Pine work is scheduled to complete by June 2026 ahead of Philadelphia's 250th anniversary, FIFA World Cup and MLB All-Star Game, while Econsult Solutions says prior investment generated more than $1 billion.
- Funding and permitting remain key hurdles as organizers say the sidewalk phase, slated to begin in 2027, depends on additional funding amid delays caused by permit red tape and rising costs.
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34 Articles
Streetscape upgrades on South Broad Street’s Avenue of the Arts set to begin this month
Updates on the revival of the 10-block stretch of South Broad Street’s Avenue of the Arts were released Wednesday, with the first phase of construction between Pine and Spruce streets set to begin Jan. 30 and be finished by June.
PHILADELPHIA BREAKS GROUND ON TEN-BLOCK TRANSFORMATION IN CENTER CITY
AVENUE OF THE ARTS, INC. REIMAGINES 1-MILE STRETCH FROM CITY HALL TO WASHINGTON AVENUE ON SOUTH BROAD STREET INTO A WORLD CULTURAL BOULEVARD PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- A bold, art-inspired transformation of Center City officially began today as Avenue of the Arts, Inc. (AAI) broke ground on AveArts 2.0, a $150 million, decade-long initiative to reimagine the Avenue of the Arts (aka South Broad Street) as a world-class cultural b…
The Avenue of the Arts to break ground on an ambitious $150 million streetscape to make Broad Street greener
A $150 million streetscape project will transform South Broad Street’s Avenue of the Arts with trees, public art, traffic calming, and redesigned medians and sidewalks, starting this winter.
Philadelphia Breaks Ground On $150 Million Overhaul Of “Avenue Of The Arts”
The project — a complete redesign of the streetscape of Broad Street, home to a number of the city’s leading arts institutions, from City Hall to the edge of South Philadelphia — will start modestly but will speed up after the America 250 celebrations this year. – The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
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