Groundbreaking took place last week for Saint Katharine Drexel Place, a 48-unit, one-bedroom housing development for income-eligible people 62 and older.
The site, at 11051 Academy Road, is adjacent to Archbishop Ryan High School and once housed Franciscan priests who taught at Ryan and foreign students who attended the school.
The 3-story friary building will be rehabbed, and there will be construction of a 3-story addition on what is a mostly unused parking lot.
The $24 million development will be complemented by on-site support services, which will include case management, health care and recreational activities.
“Health care and housing are inextricably linked,” said Robin Wiessmann, CEO of the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency;
Funding for the development is made possible by the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, City of Philadelphia, Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic and Catholic Housing and Community Services, a ministry of Catholic Charities of Philadelphia.
Bishop John J. McIntyre presided over the blessing and groundbreaking ceremony, which included performances of All are Welcome, The House that Love is Building and City of God by the Ryan choir.
Among those in attendance were Heather Huot, Secretary and Executive Vice President for Catholic Charities; Suzanne O’Grady Laurito, Director of Catholic Housing and Community Services; Gerald DeFruscio, Chief Operating Officer for Secondary Schools in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia; Joe Sanginiti, president of Archbishop Ryan; City Councilman Brian O’Neill; state Sen. Joe Picozzi; Joe DeFelice, an Assistant Deputy Secretary at the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development; the Rev. John Babowitch, pastor at Our Lady of Calvary and Christ the King; and the Rev. Jeff Stecz, pastor at St. Anselm.
Sanginiti said the name of the development is appropriate, as Katharine Drexel had close ties to Archbishop Patrick John Ryan, for whom the school is named.
DeFelice, who attended St. Matthew School with Huot, said he is happy that HUD can support the development.
“This property really meant a lot to me,” he said.
O’Neill is a graduate of Port Richmond’s Nativity BVM School, which is now senior housing. He is looking forward to the opening of Saint Katharine Drexel Place and is hoping for similar development in his district.
“This is a great neighborhood,” he said. “It has so much potential.”
Picozzi sees Saint Katharine Drexel Place as a community where seniors can age with dignity.
“I think this is going to be a very special place,” he said.
The development is expected to open no later than early 2027. ••
