Estate of change

It didn’t take long for a developer to find a new use for the site of the Trinity Christian Elementary School, which closed in June.

At an Aug. 11 community meeting, hundreds of Girard Estate-area residents heard about plans for 12 luxury homes to be built on the property at 19th and Porter streets.

Developer Anthony Marotta assured residents that the homes — to be known as Trinity Estates — would blend in with the rest of the neighborhood.

"I want to compromise with and inform the neighborhood with this meeting," he said. "The last thing I want is to have people think low- and moderate-income housing will be built."

The twin homes will be designed in line with the appearance of the current Girard Estate homes, said Marotta.

Six homes will be built on 19th Street and six more will be built on Garnet Street. Alpha Realty, 1700 W. Moyamensing Ave., will sell the 2,500-square-foot homes, which will be priced in the low $400,000 range. Buyers will be able to take advantage of the 10-year tax abatement on new housing.

A native of 17th and Wolf streets, Marotta previously championed the construction of homes in southern and coastal New Jersey. He is wasting no time in building the new development in his old neighborhood.

"The timetable for demolition of Trinity School will start in October, and the laying of the foundation for the homes will begin in November, depending on the weather," said Marotta, who will salvage the stone, stained-glass windows and domes of the old school, and sell them at a profit.

Once residents at the meeting learned the new homes wouldn’t affect the look of their neighborhood, they moved on to another concern — property taxes.

"If property taxes go up because of these structures, senior citizens in Girard Estate will be eating dog food because they will not be able to afford their bills," shouted one angry elderly resident.

According to the Philadelphia Board of Revision of Taxes Web site, all properties within the city are assessed by a formula based on a home’s market rate.

The market rate, according to the Web site, is determined by using one of three factors: sales comparisons, property rental income and cost/depreciation. For residential properties, the sales comparison approach is most frequently used.

Jody Della Barba, president of Girard Estate Area Residents, said that if residents are not happy with any type of increase, they should file an appeal with the BRT.

The new development also stands to affect commuters, since Marotta may need to erect a fence around the construction site, which is also a SEPTA bus stop.

"If a bus cannot safely load and unload passengers at a scheduled stop, then the stop might be removed," said SEPTA spokesperson Jim Whitaker. "Supervisors may have to be sent to survey the situation."

At the end of the meeting, Marotta vowed to research all the residents’ concerns, especially the public-transit issue.

Most in attendance, however, seemed pleased with the new project and said it would help keep the image and stature of Girard Estate intact.

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For more information on property taxes, log on to the Philadelphia Board of Revision of Taxes Web site at brtweb.phila.gov, or call 215-686-9270.