Back to the beginning: Developers failed to meet a deadline for buying the 32-acre Liddonfield site at Torresdale Avenue and Megargee Street. The Philadelphia Housing Authority is now expected to seek new redevelopment proposals through a bidding process. MARIA POUCHNIKOVA / TIMES PHOTO
Developers have abandoned a proposal to convert the Philadelphia Housing Authority’s former Liddonfield site into a Holy Family University campus and senior housing complex, according to City Councilman Bobby Henon.
Upper Holmesburg Civic Association President Stan Cywinski announced the news to area residents during his group’s monthly meeting on Jan. 15, but details were few at the time.
Henon told the Northeast Times that Bensalem-based BSI Construction and its partners in the project failed to meet a contractual deadline to purchase the land, a deadline that had been extended for more than a year. As a result, PHA withdrew from the contract. Sources familiar with the project have told the Times that BSI and Holy Family were at odds over funding the land acquisition and construction.
PHA, which managed low-income housing at Liddonfield for decades and still owns the 32-acre site at Torresdale Avenue and Megargee Street, is expected to conduct a new bidding process in the form of a request for proposals for the land.
“The developer and Holy Family University were not able to agree on how to execute the contract. They have exhausted the extensions,” Henon said.
“I am disappointed that the two parties could not come up with an agreement. There was an opportunity to do so, but I am not giving up on achieving the highest and best use of the property for the community.”
The collapse of the so-called Holy Family proposal intensifies uncertainty and anxiety among neighbors about how and when the Liddonfield site will be redeveloped. Built in the 1940s as military housing, the complex was repurposed as low-income housing in the 1950s. At its height, the sprawling facility had more than 400 rental units in dozens of buildings. In time, the site fell into disrepair and became notorious as a center of crime and drug activity. PHA phased out the facility and demolished it in 2010 with the help of millions in state funding. The authority launched a bidding process for prospective buyers around that time.
In July 2012, PHA agreed to sell the property to BSI and its partners, who proposed a variety of uses including university athletic facilities and housing, retail stores and affordable housing for seniors. The developers agreed to pay $4.2 million for the site.
Although not a formal party to the PHA contract, Holy Family was involved in the winning bid from the outset. The university agreed to award more than $1 million in college scholarships to PHA residents. Also, the developers proposed to meet an open-space requirement of 20 acres by constructing a series of university-grade athletic fields on the site for use by Holy Family’s sports teams and the community.
Civic leaders were thrilled with the proposal. Cywinski described it as “probably the most important development this community will see in the next century,” adding, “This will be the catalyst that will put Torresdale Avenue back on the map.”
Henon, U.S. Reps. Allyson Schwartz and Bob Brady, state Sen. Mike Stack, state Rep. Mike McGeehan, university leaders and the developers shared that enthusiasm during a July 2012 news conference at the project site. (Schwartz and McGeehan have since retired, while Stack has become lieutenant governor. The site is in Brady’s congressional district, Rep. Mike Driscoll’s state House district and Henon’s City Council district. Stack’s former Senate seat is vacant.)
Yet, the land transfer never occurred. While the Upper Holmesburg Civic Association supported the project on a conceptual level, detailed plans were never presented to the group.
Meanwhile, the relationship between the developer and university apparently soured as funding the land acquisition and construction became an issue. BSI principals John Parsons and Charles Calvanese have repeatedly declined interview requests about the project. Last January, Stack (a Democrat) asked then-Gov. Tom Corbett (a Republican) for funding, but Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program money never materialized. The governor’s budget office administers RACP.
Last March, Sister Francesca Onley, the longtime Holy Family president, told the Times that the developers were responsible for all land acquisition and construction costs and that the university would not supply funding.
“We were told by John Parsons that it would not cost us money. This proposal was never a responsibility of Holy Family University. It was always John Parsons’ project presented to Holy Family University,” said Onley, who retired in May.
PHA finally pulled the plug on the proposal last week. The future timeline for the site is unknown.
“I have had contact with the executive director of PHA (Kelvin A. Jeremiah) on what the process is going to be, the next steps,” Henon said. “Eventually, it’s going out for re-bid, but not before myself and the community meet to discuss what is the best use going forward. ••
