Toll Brothers Plans Homes At Saint Basil Academy Site

ABINGTON TOWNSHIP, PA — The shuttered Saint Basil Academy will become a housing community.

Toll Brothers plans to construct a 55+ active-adult community consisting of 150 home sites at the former SBA location.

Ownership of the property in Abington Township where Saint Basil Academy was located was officially transferred to Toll Brothers, a home construction company based in Fort Washington, on Feb. 3, SBA said.

The sale follows SBA's closing of SBA in June 2021 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Sisters of the Order of Saint Basil the Great came to the United States from Ukraine in 1911, first settling at 7th and Parrish Streets in Philadelphia.

They moved to Abington Township in 1926 after purchasing property from the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy (Archdiocese) of Philadelphia. The Sisters opened SBA in 1931.

SBA was one of the Sisters’ flagship ministries for nine decades.

Ultimately, like many Catholic and other private secondary schools in the area, SBA faced steep demographic and financial challenges, which proved to be insurmountable.

There was a sharp decrease in the number of girls of high school age in the region over the past two decades, and SBA ran substantial, six-figure operating deficits for each of its last ten years, rendering continued operation of SBA impossible.

Many of the Sisters themselves are alumnae of SBA, and they, along with many of their former students, grieved the school’s closing. The Sisters are proud of SBA’s 90-year legacy and lovingly cherish its alumnae who continue the Basilian spirit.

The Sisters have served the Ukrainian Catholic Church in the United States for 114 years, staffing schools, orphanages, parishes, and chanceries all over the country.

The Sisters also operate the Saint Basil Support Ministry in Abington Township, which provides food and other necessities to families in need. The property the Sisters purchased in Abington Township is the only property they own.

Unlike most Catholic eparchies and dioceses, which have significant real estate holdings, the Sisters now possess no real estate outside the parcel of land linked to their Motherhouse on Fox Chase Road.

This lack of assets put the Sisters in a state of financial precarity over the last two decades, especially as the Sisters required more comprehensive and costly healthcare and assistance as they aged.

Today the 24 Sisters living at the Motherhouse in Jenkintown have an average age of 84.

With virtually zero income, the community has no way to support itself.

The sale to Toll Brothers will allow the Sisters to pay for their healthcare and other basic living expenses for the next several years. A portion of the proceeds from the transaction will be tithed to support Sisters of Saint Basil around the world, the Ukrainian Catholic Church, and community organizations.

SBA said the Toll Brothers’ project was reviewed and approved after extensive consultation with neighbors and should enhance the neighborhood and increase the tax base.

Inquiries about the new community may be directed to Toll Brothers’ headquarters at 215- 938-8000.