A vacant church in Philadelphia’s Strawberry Mansion will become workforce housing

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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.

The majority of the project’s funding is coming from a conventional construction loan, but about $3.4 million is tied to a real estate investment fund backed by TD Bank.

The $25 million fund, created to satisfy the bank’s obligations under the Community Reinvestment Act, is expected to support up to eight developments in the Philadelphia area. Each project will receive between $2 million and $8 million.

“We want to make sure that the project we invest in will serve current community residents rather than help drive current neighborhood residents out of the community,” said Sam Spencer, CEO of CEI‑Boulos Capital Management, which operates the fund for TD Bank.

Cornerstone Baptist Church is the third project to receive an investment from the fund. TD has also contributed to workforce housing developments on Diamond Street in Strawberry Mansion and on South 32nd Street in Grays Ferry.

Combined, the projects will add 139 affordable homes to the city’s supply.

Tonnetta Graham, executive director of the Strawberry Mansion Community Development Corporation, said the units on North 33rd Street will help diversify the neighborhood’s housing stock while preserving a beloved building.

For decades, Cornerstone Baptist Church served as a community hub. It was used for graduations, community meetings and food giveaways. The congregation left its longtime home after it was unable to afford to make extensive repairs.

“That price point is really important when you look at the income levels of residents in Strawberry Mansion,” Graham said. “You still have families that are looking for quality housing … in the workforce housing realm.”