Developer plans to restore First African Baptist in Grad Hospital

The new owner of the First African Baptist Church – a veteran Philadelphia real estate developer – has plans to make extensive structural repairs to the main church and then renovate it into professional office space.

Bill Vessal, who is known for a series of residential projects in the Northern Liberties neighborhood of Philadelphia, and three friends bought the property that consists of three parcels at 1606 Christian St., 1608 Christian St. and 1609-19 Montrose St. in the Graduate Hospital neighborhood of Philadelphia. The sale price was $2.05 million.

While he is still formulating his plans, Vessal said he envisions converting the church into office space for a single or multiple tenants such as a law, architectural, real estate or accounting firm.

“We are going to preserve most of the fabric of the church. It’s interior and exterior,” he said. “The church has such an incredible history. We love the location and property. Everybody else wanted to tear it down, but I think it would be a crime to tear such as beautiful building down.”

The property was part of a preservation battle in which some church members sought to derail a sale amid worries that it would be razed. The pastor of the church, the Rev. Terrence Griffith, sought to sell the property having decided that the church had deteriorated to the point where it was no longer safe and too expensive to repair.

The building was constructed 110 years ago and the Philadelphia Historical Commission, against Griffith’s objections, placed the property on its register of historic places. That meant it couldn't be torn down.

There is another structure on the property that will also be restored, Vessal said.

An adjacent parking lot will likely remain undeveloped if the church space is rented out to a tenant who needs to use it, he said. It could also be developed but that’s not something the new owners plan to pursue at this time.

Source: Philadelphia Business Journal