According to PlanPhilly, Leo Voloshin, the owner of the Kensington-based textile design company Printfresh Studio and Paper Box Studios on North Hancock Street, has entered an agreement to purchase St. Laurentius Church from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

Spirit News explored potential means for adaptive reuse of St. Laurentius in an August 2015 feature story. Voloshin tells PlanPhilly he plans to convert the property into apartments. Despite the conversion to housing, he also explained how he plans on preserving the building’s exterior, saying:

“Our intention is to keep it entirely intact, externally.”

Voloshin said the sale won’t close unless he’s able to get zoning approvals in place and whether, of course, the conversion makes sense for him financially. The potential buyer says that he plans to meet with community groups and pursue zoning approvals over the next few months. John Wisniewski, a representative from the Friends of St. Laurentius, told PlanPhilly that hopes Voloshin would be able to make the conversion work.

As far those financials go, Voloshin told PlanPhilly that necessary repairs may not be as expensive as the Archdiocese has claimed in the past. Other details (like a commercial component to the development and the number of apartments that will be housed within the building) are still unclear.

It seems as though the St. Laurentius saga is nearing the home stretch; we’ll continue to update this situation as it progresses.