The Vistas at Saint Francis

Project Partners

Project Updates

Community Meetings

Thank you to everyone who has already supported the Vistas at Saint Francis, both verbally and in writing! Cornerstone West CDC is currently in the early stages of the project, conducting door-to-door outreach and holding community meetings to address any questions community stakeholders may have. The property will need to be rezoned, and Cornerstone West CDC is collaborating with the development team to pursue rezoning this fall. The property is currently zoned R-3, and a change to C-2 zoning will be requested, consistent with the adjacent Saint Francis parcel.

The early feasibility study completed last year can be reviewed here.

  • Community Meeting - Saint Francis Hospital - 11/13/24

  • Little Italy Neighborhood Association meeting - Woodlawn Library - 11/4/24

  • Public Meeting - Saint Francis Hospital - 6/25/24

Preview The Vistas at Saint Francis

Check out this 3D rending of The Vistas at Saint Francis created by the project architect, Architectural Alliance.

About the Project

The Vistas at Saint Francis (The Vistas) is a 57-unit, state of the art, energy-efficient, affordable senior housing project in the West Side of Wilmington. The project site will be vertically built on top of an existing parking garage structure in the 600 block of N. Dupont Street, immediately behind Saint Francis Hospital (a Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic member) at 701 N Clayton Street, one of the highest elevation points in the City. As part of Trinity Health Saint Francis’s Healthy Villages Initiative, this project will address the lack of affordable senior housing in the community and creatively repurpose existing under-utilized space in the neighborhood. This unique adaptive reuse and community investment is estimated to cost approximately $18 million. The $2,800,000 FY24 request will be used as capital/hard costs for construction and pre-development. 

The project site (parking garage) was originally built in 1992 and was engineered and designed for vertical expansion. The existing structure has the ability to accommodate 4 new floors of residential units, which will be added to the eastern side of the existing structure’s top deck, minimally impacting neighbors. The unique design of the Vistas at Saint Francis uses air space above the garage and builds vertically, benefitting the surrounding neighborhood with the addition of housing units through repurposing rather than demolition or acquisition of infrastructure. Unlike typical urban development projects, the Vistas will incorporate the conversion of impervious surfaces to green spaces, as well as provide panoramic views of New Castle County for residents. 

With existing and expanding services at Saint Francis Hospital, the project will provide both a continuum of care as well as a blending of state-of-the-art housing, including assisted living and low-income, with handicap accessible features throughout.

Questions?

Contact Starr Wilson, Real Estate & Housing Manager, at swilson@westsidegrows.org or (302) 888-5345.