The Philadelphia Bar Foundation is planning to break ground in more ways than one later this year with the construction of the Philadelphia Equal Justice Center, a first-of-its-kind facility that will house nearly a dozen legal aid organizations and social service nonprofits.

Construction of the nine-story building at 800-30 Vine St. in Philadelphia is set to begin in October and the center is scheduled to open in 2022. The Bar Foundation, which will itself be based in the center, has secured commitments from 11 other organizations to become tenants: the Center for Advocacy for the Rights and Interests of the Elderly, Community Legal Services, Consumer Bankruptcy Assistance Project, Court Appointed Special Advocates of Philadelphia, Good Shepherd Mediation Program, American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Health Law Project, Philadelphia Legal Assistance, Regional Housing Legal Services, SeniorLAW Center and Women’s Law Project.