Archdiocese Plans to Sell 200-Acre Property For $47 Million

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s mother church, the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul.
Photo credit: Peter Miller via Flicker.

Offers came in after the Archdiocese of Philadelphia put the 200-acre Don Guanella Village on the market last year, but now it seems the site, which includes a center for developmentally disabled men, will pass on to Cardinal Crossing Realty Associates for $47 million.

Patti Mengers at the Delco Daily Times reports the Jenkintown-based company wants to develop the property for commercial and residential use, but they’ll have to wait for Vatican approval before the transaction is complete. As part of the sale, however, the Archdiocese would be allowed a few acres on which to build a residential campus for about 30 of the men currently at the Cardinal Krol Center:

Funding for the medically fragile men’s campus will be provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare’s Office of Developmental Programs whose officials will oversee the proposed location and may opt for another site for the facility, said [Kenneth] Gavin.

Earnings from the sale will go to the Archdiocesan Trust and Loan Fund.

Adding to this, the Inquirer’s Harold Brubaker says Archdiocese also has an agreement to sell properties in Northampton and Chester counties for $55 million and $3.7 million, respectively. The latter sale will send proceeds to a pension fund for archdiocesan priests.

• Sold! Archdiocese cuts deal to sell 200-acre Don Guanella Village in Marple for $47 million [Delco Times]

• Archdiocese sells Delco property, 2 others for $56.2M [Inquirer]