A long-approved, large-scale age-restricted community redevelopment plan for the former Drexel shrine property is still valid, at least for a couple more months.
But its protections against changes in local laws expire in November, Bensalem officials confirmed.
What it means is a buyer who wants to move forward with the original plans could face new hurdles at the 44-acre property off Bristol Pike, which once housed Catholic Saint Mother Katherine Drexel and the religious order that she founded.
Under the Pennsylvania Municipal Planning Code, once a developer receives final plan approval, there is a five-year grace period that excludes the plan from
any newly adopted local zoning or code or other ordinances.
But once the protection expires, a municipality can re-review the approved plan and require a developer to make changes to bring the plan in alignment with the new regulations, Bensalem Director of Building, Planning and Zoning Kenneth Farrell said.
Aquinas Realty Partners, and AQ Saint Katharine Drexel LP reached a pending agreement with the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, the Drexel order that owns the property in 2017 to buy the property.
But the sale was never finalized, even as Aquinas President Len Poncia moved forwardto obtain the necessary approvals for his vision of a mixed-use care senior living community.
After the order terminated the sale in 2025 following years of extensions and negotiations. Poncia sued them in Bucks County Common Pleas Court alleging breach of contract. The lawsuit was settledearlier this year.
The settlement terms are confidential, but a legal freeze on the property preventing its sale it was also terminated, leaving ownership with the religious order.
A new buyer could only develop the Drexel property as something similar to a senior living community, under the special zoning district Bensalem Council approvedin 2019 to accommodate Aquinas Realty Partners’ vision, Farrell said.
Any other use would require changing the zoning again and starting the planning process from scratch, he added.
What the original Drexel redevelopment plan envisioned
The proposed “AQ St. Katharine Drexel Estates” was approved for 90 townhouses, 260 active-adult rental units for people age 55 and older, 80 memory care and assisted living units, and 175 independent-living units.
As part of the plan, the original motherhouse would be preserved and serve as the administrative headquarters for the nuns, and a community center with shops and other amenities for residents.
The historic St. Elizabeth Chapel and a cemetery for Drexel's religious order members on the property also would be preserved.
Poncia anticipated breaking ground on the project in 2023, but necessary permits were still pending and the work never started.
The vacant motherhouse and other buildings were boarded up and new security measures installed including cameras and an 8-foot high fence after the property was hit multiple times by vandals seeking copper piping and tubing.
Drexel, a Philadelphia heiress, founded the order and established the motherhouse in Bensalem in 1891. She used her inheritance to serve the Black and Native American communities. Pope John Paul II canonized her as the second American saint in 2000.
The order operated out of the Bensalem property until it closed at the end of 2017, after announcing plans in 2016 to sell the property to reduce its financial burden.
Her body was entombed on the property until it was moved to the new shrine in her honor at Cathedral-Basilica of SS Peter and Paul in Philadelphia when the shrine closed.
Crime and Courts Reporter Jo Ciavaglia can be reached at jciavaglia@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: What's next for Drexel site in Bensalem | Exclusive look
