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A vacant church in Philadelphia’s Strawberry Mansion section will be converted into an apartment building with 44 affordable rentals.
Cornerstone Baptist Church is located on North 33rd Street near West Diamond Street and has sat empty for more than five years. The adaptive reuse project will leave the neighborhood landmark largely intact, while bringing new workforce housing to an area where more than half of renters are considered cost-burdened.
“Development in Philadelphia has slowed significantly in recent years due to a variety of reasons, but this is, I think, an example of a good use for a good building in a great neighborhood. And we’re really hoping for a successful project,” said Travis Seal, principal at Select Redevelopment.
Select purchased the century-old property in April after another developer walked away from its plans and put it on the market. The building fronts Fairmount Park and is already zoned for multifamily. That means no variance is needed to move forward.
Construction is slated to start this summer. When completed, the building will have 29 one-bedroom units, 14 two-bedroom units and one studio apartment. Each home will be rent-restricted to be affordable for households earning less than 80% of the area median income, which translates to $68,750 for an individual.
“The existing structure enables us to have an overall construction cost that is cheaper than building new,” Seal said. “That allows us to build multifamily housing at a cheaper price point for the construction, which then allows us to charge much lower rents.”
The $10 million redevelopment is privately funded and Select’s first project in Strawberry Mansion.
