The Power Fifty 2009: Who Will Replace … ?

Developer
Ron Rubin >> Bart Blatstein
Maybe no developer can replicate Rubin’s impact on Center City, but Blatstein’s Piazza at Schmidts transformation of Northern Liberties makes him the next best thing. And despite the downturn, Blatstein is pressing on, with 300 proposed apartments in a state office building at Broad and Spring Garden that’ll have a row of new stores, plus other projects.

Driven Distaff Boss
Judith von Seldeneck >> Rosemary Turner
Von Seldeneck, Michael Nutter’s point woman to fill top-level city posts, has built a worldwide executive recruiting company. Turner, local UPS COO (she started as a telephone operator before moving up to driver) and United Way campaign chair, oversees more than 9,000 employees in a district that includes UPS’s second largest air hub in the country. Insiders say she has the savvy and from-the-ground-up drive to make a run for mayor someday.

Getting It Done the Old-Fashioned Way
Vince Fumo >> No one. Except … Vince Fumo
When he only got four years in the can, we knew he could pull a Buddy Cianfrani. You don’t think he’ll be the go-to guy in South Philly once again?

West Philly Visionary
Taki Papadakis >> David Adelman
The late Papadakis boosted Drexel University’s profile from local also-ran to national contender. There’s a new West-of-Schuylkill mover and shaker: Adelman, whose Campus Apartments provides more housing for students in the city than any other landlord’s. As the first owner willing to partner with Penn for better neighborhood maintenance, lighting and security, Adelman’s an unsung street-level hero in the transformation of University City. Now serving 55 colleges across the country, Campus has become the biggest privately owned student housing company in the nation.