Levy's main job is president and chief executive of the Center City District, the privately funded organization dedicated to the improvement of that part of the city.
By carefully selecting tenants, sometimes helping them by charging rent under the market peak, and even by buying new properties, Levy said, the nonprofit could make sure the avenue maintained the right "mix" - and not turn into an entertainment zone shunned by its neighbors.
The key, he said, was to have businesses that serve local residents, such as hardware stores and groceries, along with the high-end restaurants and trendy shops that draw customers from across the area.
The plan for the new Passyunk Avenue organization was approved by Commonwealth Court, which appointed Levy as overseer after Fumo's corruption conviction.
Long one of Philadelphia's most powerful Democrats, Fumo had used his political muscle to raise about $30 million for the tiny nonprofit group, whose executive director, Ruth Arnao, was a Fumo legislative aide. Arnao was also convicted on corruption charges.
Fumo squeezed $17 million from Peco Energy Co. in a secret corporate donation and extracted $10 million from bridge tolls.
The nonprofit then went on a buying spree, putting down cash to buy $15 million or so in real estate, mostly, but not all, along Passyunk Avenue.
The rehabs it financed and the tenants it lured spawned a boom along the corridor that now has been gathering momentum for several years. But along the way, Fumo and Arnao used the nonprofit as a personal cash cow and tapped its treasury to pay for political polls and a lawsuit against a Fumo political enemy, among other abuses.
