Sisters of St. Francis complete sale of Court Street convent

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities have completed the sale of its property at Court Street and Grant Boulevard in Syracuse.

The organization sold the property to developer Mark Congel under the name of The Kimberly at Grant Blvd., LLC, according to a news release issued Tuesday.

The Sisters of St. Francis did not disclose the sale price.

The sisters put the property and all its buildings on the market last spring when the 96 sisters living in the convents moved to new housing on Buckley Road in Salina, Rochelle Cassella, director of congregational communications for the Sisters of St. Francis, said in the release.

Cassella said the Court Street campus, as the property is known, has “far more space than the congregation required.”

“This arrangement is a win-win. Our sisters have appropriate housing, the buildings will be repurposed to provide much-needed moderate income housing and the property returns to the tax rolls,” said Cassella.

The nearly eight-acre property houses six buildings, including a former chapel; structures that housed the former Franciscan Academy school and Maria Regina College; and two former convents.

Congel has said that he will eventually convert the campus into apartments, keeping as much of the original architecture of the building as possible, the Sisters of St. Francis said.

The sisters will remain on the property until August when crews expect to complete work on their new offices on James Street, said Cassella.

Congel’s ownership, however, takes effect “immediately.”

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com