For two years, world-renowned artist James Dupree has been fighting to keep his Mantua-based studio from being razed to make way for a grocery store and parking lot. But on Dec. 11, that all changed. The Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority (PRA) dropped its condemnation of Dupree’s studio in the face of legal appeals.

Dupree spent nearly a decade renovating a leaking, dilapidated space at 36th and Haverford Avenue just blocks from his childhood home into a studio for not only his own work, but also to cultivate other young artists from West Philadelphia through art classes and rental space.

But in 2012, Dupree was notified by the PRA that his studio was in the way of a multi-million dollar private development project backed by $2.75 million in state subsidies. The PRA had been working with the Mantua Community Improvement Committee and Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell to bring a grocery store into the neighborhood that was without one. Dupree was offered $600,000 to abandon a space worth more than three times as much, not to mention the years of renovations or the cost of relocating decades of paintings, some valued more than $100,000. On Dec. 27, 2012, the artist’s studio was condemned, just days before a state law that prohibited the use of eminent domain for private development went into effect.

Dupree partnered with the Institute for Justice to challenge the city agency, which eventually dropped its condemnation.

“The legal costs associated with Mr. Dupree’s appeals make it impossible to continue,” PRA Executive Director Brian Abernathy wrote in a statement. “We will do everything we can to bring a grocery store to this community, and are currently exploring other sites to make this a feasible project.”

“James and his family hope to inspire Americans everywhere to stand up whenever their rights are violated,” said the Institute for Justice’s activism manager, Melinda Haring. “Dupree lost many years of his work and life fighting this illegal and unconstitutional land grab. James’s victory puts the city of Philadelphia on notice: the city cannot take private property for private development ever again.”