Mt. Sinai Developer Plans Apartments, Townhomes at Shuttered Pennsport School

Abigail Vare School | Photo: James Jennings

It looks like Concordia Group has its sights set on another major project at a local landmark in Pennsport.

The Bethesda-based developer plans to convert the former Abigail Vare Elementary School building at 1619 East Moyamensing Avenue into a mix of 45 apartments inside the building and construct six townhomes behind it. It’s located just around the corner from their proposed project at Mt. Sinai, which will look to demolish the so-called “Divine Lorraine of South Philly” in favor of 95 townhomes. Representatives from Concordia will present their proposal to the Pennsport Civic Association tonight.

City records show that the plan is to split the large single parcel–bound by Morris Street in the south, Mountain Street in the north and East Moyamensing Avenue in the west–into seven separate seven lots. The townhomes would line the Morris Street side of the property, which stretches deep into the block by way of an entrance and an elevated asphalt playing surface.  As for parking, the plan looks to call for 24 spots for cars and 15 for bicycles.

The former Vare school has sat vacant across from Dickinson Square Park since closing in 2013. The 54,000-square-foot building was listed for $2.5 million by the School District of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation, the latter marketed and managed the portfolio of 20 schools. While the school district is still listed as the owner of the building, Concordia Group bought Vare and four other schools, including Germantown High School, for a sum of $6.8 million, according to The Notebook.