Historic South Philly church on 16th Street is being converted into a hotel

The former True Gospel Tabernacle Family Church at 1900 S. 16th St. is slated for a new purpose under a new owner.

The imposing half-block complex was sold earlier this year to Robert Huttenlock, a contractor and developer with a history of remaking venerable buildings.

Huttenlock purchased the building for $2 million and plans an $8 million renovation of the complex into a 30-room hotel and event space.

“There’s a need for hotel rooms in Philadelphia and especially in and around that area,” Huttenlock said. “There’s really nothing there” in terms of hotel space.

“We do have them set up so that they could be longer-term hotel stays because each unit does have a kitchenette in it,” he said.

The church is just west of Broad Street and bustling East Passyunk Avenue and north of Snyder Avenue. It is close to South Philly Tap Room, Second District Brewing, and the pizza and Mediterranean restaurant Stina.

The property encompasses three buildings across half a city block.

The sanctuary space is 42 feet high, which presents challenges for cooling and lighting. It will require underpinning and removal of 1,000 cubic yards of soil.

In 2024, the previous owner, Atlis Real Estate Partners, planned 33 apartments for the building, as well as an event space in the sanctuary.

Huttenlock’s team will preserve the event space from the earlier plan and also retained the previous developer’s designer, Janice Woodcock, who is now a principal with the firm Michael Graves Architecture.

The project is still in its early stages, with zoning permits secured for the 30-room hotel on Oct. 29 as well as a gym, kitchen, bar, and a takeout restaurant space.

The eatery will be placed in the foot of the tower at the intersection of 16th and Mifflin Streets, and will be open to the public.

“We will have outdoor seating within the courtyard at the base of the tower,” said Huttenlock. “It will be a coffee shop with pastries and light sandwiches.”

Huttenlock says he is still determining whether the event space and hotel will be operated by the same vendor.

The vision is not, however, for the rooms to be rented out via short-term rental companies like VRBO or Airbnb.

“We’re beginning talks now about who’s going to operate the space, but we don’t want people just checking in on their phone and having no human interaction,” said Tristan Doherty, the project manager, who also works for Huttenlock at his Philadelphia-based Best Choice Plumbing & Heating.

“We would like there to be somebody to talk to, somebody to tell them about the brewery around the corner,” Doherty said.

The property is zoned for smaller scale rowhouse apartment development.

But the project can move forward without permission from the zoning board due to a 2019 law passed by City Council that makes it easier to repurpose churches that are on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places.

The former True Gospel Tabernacle Family Church has been historically protected since 1967.

The 2019 law is also being used to transform the former Second Nazareth Missionary Church, another historically protected building at 1800 Tasker St. in Point Breeze, into a family-friendly brewery and restaurant.

The project at 1900 S. 16th St., by contrast, is just getting underway. The timeline is projected to last into 2029.

Huttenlock is an adaptive reuse enthusiast, in addition to being CEO of Best Choice Plumbing & Heating.

Other projects include turning the former Holy Name of Jesus Church convent in Fishtown into an eight-unit apartment building. He is nearly finished turning a former covenant at 3230 Belgrade St. in Port Richmond into a 12-unit apartment building.

The church at 1900 S. 16th will be his biggest historic redevelopment yet.

“It’s going to be a great project. It’s going to be well done; no corners are going to be cut,” Huttenlock said. “We have a few of these types of adaptive reuse projects under our belt already, and they’ve been great additions to each community that they’re in.”