Joseph Beller, a lawyer for the developer, 2012 W. Girard Associates, did not return calls for comment. The developer's address is in Jenkintown, and a message left at the phone number for that property was not returned.
According to city records, the owners are 1 1/2 years in arrears on property taxes, although the city updates its files only monthly.
At a June 13 community meeting, the developer presented plans to raze the three structures at 2012-2030 Girard Ave. - a chapel and two brownstones where the nuns once lived.
The developer proposed erecting two four-story buildings containing 800-square-foot units with two bedrooms each. The construction would include 16 parking spaces for 42 condominiums or apartments.
In May, the city's Department of Licenses and Inspections refused to issue a permit for the development. The refusal noted several violations of the zoning code, including exceeding allowed heights and having no rear yard.
The developer has applied for multiple zoning variances and will have a July 19 meeting before the Zoning Board of Adjustment.
The new structures would eliminate a garden at the side of the property. There, benches where the Poor Clares sat and prayed surround a reflecting pool long since emptied of water. The tops of the benches had been capstones for the walls of Girard College, whose stately Grecian campus sits just across the avenue.
On one of the buildings, a cross and "Monastery of St. Clare" are carved above a window. Pebbled glass protected the nuns from both prying eyes and the temptations of the outside world.
In 1977, the Poor Clares departed for a new home in Langhorne, and the Girard Avenue properties fell into decay.
