Community Hospital in Chester, vacant since 2021, will now be the site of Silvercare Senior Housing, an affordable housing complex, writes Kenny Cooper for WHYY.
The 94-unit development is set to open in March 2026.
Using a matching grant of $750,000 from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh, Everest PACE Center Inc. plans to transform the six-story hospital into a housing development with supportive services for seniors ages 62 and up.
Meanwhile, Liberty Housing Development Corp. is using a similar grant to build Shawn & Eileen’s Place in Chester. The five one-bedroom units and one two-bedroom unit will be dedicated to low-income individuals with disabilities who are transitioning out of nursing homes.
Chester Mayor Stefan Roots welcomed the two affordable housing projects but said the city must also diversity its housing stock. He called on other communities in Delaware County to also provide affordable housing.
“We are the front yard of affordable housing for the county right now,” Roots said. “And I really see that it’s going to have to get spread out because Chester cannot survive through bankruptcy and receivership with just the housing stock that we have — which is very much all driven by affordable housing.”
Read more about these two housing projects at WHYY.
