{"id":134329,"date":"2026-03-10T10:16:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T10:16:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/134329\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T10:16:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T10:16:07","slug":"phillys-william-way-center-is-building-a-new-headquarters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/134329\/","title":{"rendered":"Philly\u2019s William Way center is building a new headquarters"},"content":{"rendered":"

How did we get here?<\/p>\n

William Way bought the property on Spruce Street in 1996.<\/p>\n

About a decade ago, the center launched a fundraising campaign to stabilize and redevelop its longtime home. But the effort failed to garner enough money to make all of the necessary repairs, including to the roof, walls and windows.<\/p>\n

The water damage, which worsened with every rain, had also yielded a mold problem, and the building\u2019s electrical system was in poor condition.<\/p>\n

In June, the center announced it would be listing the property for sale.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile parts of the building reopened in January 2026 for limited use, it was determined that more than $3.5 million in immediate repairs would be needed before any broader redevelopment could proceed,\u201d reads part of a statement posted online.<\/p>\n

By late November, the organization was preparing to permanently shutter the center\u2019s Spruce Street headquarters.<\/p>\n

The nonprofit then briefly reversed its decision<\/a> before ultimately deciding to move forward with demolishing the property.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe weren\u2019t totally sure yet what we were going to do. But as we\u2019ve had architects and so forth walk through the building, they\u2019ve told us it\u2019s not salvageable,\u201d said Dave Huting, who chairs the center\u2019s board with Ryan.<\/p>\n

The center\u2019s decision to redevelop the site, first reported by Philadelphia Gay News<\/a>, was announced during a gala celebrating the publication\u2019s 50th anniversary. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Mayor Cherelle Parker expressed their support for the development during the event.<\/p>\n

The proposal is also backed by City Councilmember Mark Squilla, whose district contains the center.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great plan to keep William Way at its current location and be able to provide affordable senior housing for people who otherwise will not be able to live in the neighborhood,\u201d Squilla said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey still have to meet with the community to go over their plans,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The center may also need to go before the Philadelphia Historical Commission to seek permission to demolish and redevelop the site.<\/p>\n

In September 2024, the center became part of the Washington Square West Historic District<\/a>, a collection of 1,441 properties spanning more than two centuries.<\/p>\n

A judge recently struck down the designation after neighbors sued the commission, but the city can appeal. The decision could result in the district\u2019s reinstatement.<\/p>\n

Designated properties are protected against demolition unless the commission grants permission to take down a structure.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have reached out to center leadership to request a meeting to learn more about what\u2019s behind this decision and why they decided that the existing structure has to go. And also to discuss what degree of preservation that they may already may be considering or that they would be willing to consider,\u201d said Paul Steinke, executive director the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia, which nominated the district with the Washington Square West Civic Association.<\/p>\n

The city is expected to decide on the appeal this month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"How did we get here? William Way bought the property on Spruce Street in 1996. About a decade…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":51968,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[69,71,70,2312,45672,27284],"class_list":["post-134329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-planphilly","tag-senior-housing","tag-william-way-lgbt-community-center"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134329"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134329\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51968"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}