WILMINGTON — The Ministry of Caring, the social services organization founded by Capuchin Franciscan Brother Ronald Giannone, has announced plans to turn an area along Wilmington’s North Market Street into affordable senior housing apartments. Villa Maria at Old Brandywine Village is scheduled to be completed in 17 months.
The project is expected to cost nearly $30 million and will create 74 apartments for low-income seniors ages 62 and above. Demolition of existing buildings will begin by Feb. 21, according to the Ministry of Caring.
“Like the rest of the country, Wilmington suffers from a severe shortage of affordable housing, and the high cost of housing has been documented for decades as the top cause of homelessness among the elderly,” said Brother Ronald, who established the Ministry of Caring in 1977.
This will be the ministry’s fourth housing village for low-income seniors. The others are Sacred Heart Village I, opened in 1983 on North Madison Street in Wilmington; Sacred Heart Village II, which opened in 2017 on East 10th Street at the site of a former East Side school; and the Village of St. John, which is located at the former Episcopal Cathedral Church at North Market Street and Concord Avenue. That opened in 2019.
Villa Maria will be nearly across the street from the Village of St. John.
The Ministry of Caring purchased the site in 2020, and the plan has since gained support from city leaders, the Old Brandywine Village Civic Association, the Superfine Lane Association and the Brandywine Partners, a coalition of nonprofits and businesses in the community.
This will be the first Ministry of Caring mixed-use building that designates a street-level retail space, according to the ministry. The organization is seeking senior-friendly businesses who might be interested in opening at the site.
The project also will include an update of the Brandywine Village Historic District listing on the National Register of Historic Places. That is the result of an agreement made between the Ministry of Caring, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the state Historic Preservation Office.
Villa Maria was designed by Architectural Alliance and will be built by DiSabatino Builders. Both are Delaware-based companies. It is being funded through a number of state, federal and private programs and resources, the ministry said.
