Drexel's Innovation Neighborhood Receives $5 Million Grant

Chairman of Drexel's Board of Trustees Richard A. Greenawalt (far left), Vice Chairman of Drexel's Board Stanley W. Silverman, Drexel trustee Nicholas DeBenedictis, Senator Vincent Hughes, Lt. Governor Jim Cawley, Drexel President John A. Fry and Drexel trustees Robert F. Powelson and Carl M. Buchholz.

Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania Jim Cawley visited Drexel University’s campus on Oct. 10 and announced a $5 million Economic Growth Initiative Grant to assist in the development of the University’s Innovation Neighborhood development project.

“Today we make an investment in the future of Drexel University,” said Cawley. “We are ensuring that this great higher education institution will continue to effectively educate the next generation of doctors, researchers, and scientists.”

The Innovation Neighborhood development project, as envisioned by Drexel University, will utilize 12-plus acres of underdeveloped land to create a gateway to University City and Drexel’s campus at Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station.

Innovation Neighborhood™ will house technology partnerships, industrial joint ventures, interdisciplinary academic and research programs, business incubators and more. Offices and laboratories, classroom space and residential and retail property will develop in tandem to create a dense, mixed-use neighborhood. It is the centerpiece of Drexel University’s strategic focus on research, technology transfer and economic development

“Innovation Neighborhood is a vision built on the synergy between the research and teaching Drexel does and the technology and talent needs of Pennsylvania,” said Drexel President John A. Fry. “With this grant and Drexel’s matching investment we can begin projects that show future partners what the Innovation Neighborhood will become.”

The total investment triggered by this $5 million grant will be in the excess of $36 million. It includes the renovation of a building on 3101 Market Street that will house Drexel’s new Institute for Energy and the Environment, a multi-disciplinary institute that will bring together public and private sectors with Drexel faculty and students to address science and policy issues.

A similar grant of $9.5 million was awarded to Drexel in 2011 for the University’s Gerri C. LeBow Hall, a the 12-story, 177,500-square-foot building that houses the Drexel’s LeBow College of Business. The $92 million facility, which opened its doors in October 2013, was named in honor of Bennett S. LeBow’s late wife after his $45 million gift to the University made the construction possible.