Senior apartments are set to rise from the ashes of a West Philly church destroyed by fire

For more than a century, Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church stood at the corner of North 65th Street and Lansdowne Avenue in West Philadelphia. It served as a place of worship for several congregations and a community center.

But in late August 2016, residents in the Overbrook neighborhood watched as a massive fire that took more than 100 firefighters to contain gutted the granite and limestone church. The neighborhood fixture was destroyed.

Now, eight years later, work has begun at the site to build 55 income-restricted apartments for seniors. The $23.8 million project was delayed by the pandemic and the time it takes to pull together private and public financing.

The four-story apartment building is scheduled to be completed in fall 2025. And it will include space for Presbyterian Church members to provide services for the community.

At a groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday, the Rev. Kevin Porter from the Presbytery of Philadelphia, a Presbyterian corporate entity, said he was there the day of the fire. Seeing what’s planned for the site is “such a joy,” he said.

“Although we knew that we probably couldn’t build another church here, we were committed to being church with this community,” he said.

Developer Pennrose is partnering with the local nonprofit Wynnefield Overbrook Revitalization Corp. to develop the income-restricted, one-bedroom apartments. They will average roughly 600 square feet and be offered at rents from as low as about $430 a month to $1,290 for one-person households.

“We understand that development can’t replace what was,” said Jacob Fisher, regional vice president at Pennrose. “We can’t bring back a demolished block. We can’t bring back a beloved neighbor. We can’t bring back an institution like the church. But what we can do is enhance the neighborhood and respect the history of that neighborhood by bringing quality, affordable housing that meets goals for the future of the neighborhood.”

The Good Shepherd apartment building will be restricted to residents 62 or older and offer social services. The building will span more than 50,000 square feet and include a fitness room, a community room for residents, and an outdoor patio.

Six of the 55 one-bedroom apartments will be reserved for households making 20% of the area median income, about $15,600 for a one-person household.

Twenty-five apartments will be reserved for residents making 50% of the area median, or about $39,100 for one person. The other 24 apartments will be for those making 60% of the area median, or about $46,900 for one person.

The project relies on federal low-income housing tax credits, as well as public grants and loans and private funds. The Philadelphia Housing Authority is subsidizing tenants’ rents.

Gerald Murphy, executive director of the Wynnefield Overbrook Revitalization Corp., said the project will bring “much-needed” new housing for the neighborhood’s seniors.

A lot more is needed across the city, and at deeper levels of affordability.

If the city doesn’t make sure seniors can age in place, said attorney Daniel Hyman at the nonprofit SeniorLAW Center, “we’re really wasting an opportunity to maintain Philadelphia and the communities we have.”

“Rents just keep going up. And most of our seniors are on a fixed income,” said Hyman, supervising attorney in the legal aid organization’s tenants-rights unit. “That fixed income is not going up as quickly as the rent is. So it’s really tough.”

Seniors struggle to find affordable homes in good condition. For example, Hyman has been working with residents at Brith Sholom House, a senior housing complex in West Philadelphia that has been left to deteriorate by its owners. Hundreds more seniors could live there if the owners maintained it. The 360-unit apartment tower now has only about 90 residents.

Hyman also represents seniors facing eviction and negotiates move-out agreements with landlords. Before the pandemic, his clients could find a new place to live in a month, he said.

“Now, all of my clients are telling me they have no idea how long it’ll take them, and they need at least four months,” he said. “People who are desperately searching for safe, affordable, decent housing for seniors are not finding it at the speed they were finding it five years ago.”