Changes could be coming to St. Casimir’s Lithuanian Church buildings

A zoning notice recently hung on the former convent of St. Casimir’s Lithuanian Church in Pennsport states that four large apartments are being proposed at 338 Wharton St.

But that’s not all, the former school located behind the 100-year old  church has also been relisted for sale. If all goes according to plan, it could spell some major changes to the 300 block of Wharton Street.

As for the apartments, Naked Philly reports that the building would be renovated to create four apartments. With nearly 5,000 sq. ft. to work with, they’ll be spacious, to say the least.

324 Wharton St. coming back on the market is interesting, as it is the address for three buildings — the church, the rectory and the former school.  The listing states “the building previously housed St. Casimir’s grade school.”  As far as we could tell, the school property actually sits behind the church on tiny Earp, Orianna and Sears Sts. It doesn’t appear that the rectory fronting Wharton is included as part of the proposed sale.

The new listing, which has an asking price of $1.299M, claims the property is a “shell” and hails it as a “turn-key project” for potential investors due to previous plans already approved by the Zoning Board of Adjustment.

Those plans called for 19 apartments in the former school — that’s down from the 25 mentioned in a Philadelphia Public Record article from 2011 highlighting near-neighbor opposition to the project. According to the listing, the breakout would look like this: 10 1-bedrooms, seven 2-bedrooms and two 4-bedroom apartments, should the property find a buyer and develop it. Six parking spots and roof deck access would also be included.

We’ll keep you posted as more information becomes available.