Crane Community Center
Throughout the history of Philadelphia’s Chinatown, there has never been a physical space designated for community gathering, activities, or recreation. However, ten years ago, Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation (PCDC) moved north of the Chinatown Core and began to envision the possibility of a community center at the corner of 10thand Vine Street.
This vision became reality in October 2017 when PCDC broke ground on Crane Chinatown (formerly Eastern Tower), a $75 million dollar project, co-developed by the PCDC, JNA Capital, Inc. and represented by a team led by Art Momjian of Duane Morris. It is the largest project to be built in Chinatown (in terms of scope and budget).
Crane is designed to address the recreation, housing and services needs of a growing community of both residents and Asian immigrants from the Philadelphia region. The 195,000 SF building includes a 17,000 SF community center with a state-of-the-art basketball court and multi-purpose gym, 30,000 SF of retail/commercial space, and 150 housing units. The project unites Chinatown across the Vine Street Expressway, which has bisected the community for decades, and drives 10th Street commercial corridor growth and investment into Chinatown North. Chinatown Learning Center, a bilingual, Keystone 4 STAR preschool offers onsite day care, and the first-floor features restaurant and retail space.
Presently, Crane Community Center has become a true community hub for Chinatown, hosting programs, activities, and events for all ages. Crane currently hosts our Out-of-School Time (OST) afterschool youth program, Career Connected Programming PHL (C2L-PHL) youth summer internship program, Senior Cafe program, and Black & Gold 2.0 program workshops, in addition to recreational sports, arts exhibitions, and free Tai Chi and Kung Fu classes. Recent events held at Crane include the Chinese New Year Banquet, Chinese New Year activities, “TED Democracy” Chinatown Community Watch Party, and the premier screening of AARP’s “Chinatown Stories: Philadelphia YèShì Night Market.”
Overall, the Crane building includes apartments, small businesses, and our community center—Chinatown’s first large indoor hub for recreation and learning!
Click here to learn more about Crane Community Center.