Philadelphia School Buildings Reborn

Photo: Plan Philly

Plan Philly in collaboration with the Philadelphia Public School Notebook recently produced a piece on abandoned school conversions.  The following locations/building projects were featured in the article.

The picture above is of Tony Rufo's project at 12th and Fitzwater.  The old Nathaniel Hawthorne School Building (1909) was converted into 56 lofts.  The building is the most dramatic development in Rufo's Hawthorne portfolio that includes multiple rehabs and new construction.

According to the article, A school at 8th and Lehigh has gone under contract for $600,000 and there are plans for a grocery store and senior housing.

A West Philadelphia school building at 51st and Race was converted into a large Church.

The article also highlighted the battle that took place between Independence Charter School and a condo developer for the old school at 16th and Lombard.  It seems community activism won that battle, but not before the hefty price tag of 6 million was forked over.

The article was written in the wake of the school district's recent announcement that there are 70,000 empty seats this year.  With other urban districts like Kansas City and Detroit shuttering nearly half the schools, it seems developers and community organizations in Philadelphia may soon have a lot more inventory to choose from.