A much-welcomed infusion of cash will help spur revitalization of Lancaster's South Duke Street corridor.

At a news conference scheduled for 11 a.m. today at the Spanish American Civic Association headquarters, SACA Development will announce receipt of a $672,000 grant from Wachovia Regional Foundation. The money will be used to continue SACA's efforts to improve the city's southeast neighborhoods.

"(The grant) will allow us to continue the work of pushing forward with housing rehabilitation and new construction projects for working-class families," SACA executive director Carlos Graupera said.

Wachovia's "investment in our community," Graupera said, also will spur more corporate partnerships and open other funding sources.

SACA Development has been busily transforming the city's southeast quadrant into a more livable area. SACA created the $1.2 million La Academia Family & Student Center at 38-42 N. Ann St., opened in 2007, and transformed the former Conestoga Elks building at 452 S. Duke St. into the South Duke Business Center. The $973,000 project is now home to Belco Community Credit Union and Myers and Bell Insurance Agency.

SACA also is rehabilitating two neighborhoods by creating 27 new town houses, to be ready for occupancy in spring 2009.

The object of the redevelopment project, Graupera said, is to convert the homes from mainly rental units to "a very strong homeowner base."

In addition, the 5.7-acre lot at South Duke and Chesapeake streets, site of the former Miguel's night club, will be cleared to make way for an urban shopping mall.

Graupera said the mall, which will cost between $5 million and $7 million, will provide services and jobs to the neighborhood.

"When that gets done, it will provide us with an economic development base for the southeast quadrant of the city," Graupera said. "That economic base is lacking."

In addition to revitalizing buildings along the corridor, The Inner City Group, a SACA subsidiary, has been pushing ahead with a $1.4 million streetscape improvement, which includes traffic-calming devices such as divided roadways and bulb-out curbs, plus new street lighting, traffic signals and replacement of damaged sidewalks.

The group previously spent about $1.5 million on improvements to Roberto Clemente Park and other investments in the area.

Lancaster Mayor Rick Gray said the new Wachovia grant is "a continuation of the commitment SACA has made in southeast Lancaster."

"It's exciting to see this kind of thing happening in the city," Gray said. "It's exciting to see that millions of dollars are being spent in an area of the city that holds so much potential, but has so often been ignored in the past."

Graupera said interest in revitalizing Lancaster's southeast neighborhoods has been building momentum.

"It has been slow in building," he said. "But it has slowly but surely picking up over the years."

E-mail: lalexander@lnpnews.com