A longtime fixture of downtown Mobile’s skyline has changed hands. The Archdiocese of Mobile has sold Cathedral Place, a low-income apartment complex for seniors on Conti Street, to an affiliate of Memphis, Tennessee-based Alco Properties. The sale closed April 25, though the purchase price has not been disclosed.
The complex sits directly across Conti Street from the Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in the heart of downtown Mobile. For Alco, a firm that manages a portfolio of affordable housing developments across several states, including a property in Birmingham, the acquisition marks its first foothold in the Mobile market.
“This is our first property in Mobile,” said Thomas Robinson, an acquisition and development analyst with Alco Properties.
Residents should not expect major changes any time soon. Alco plans to keep Cathedral Place operating as a low-income senior residential community and will continue to honor U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development guidelines that have governed the property for decades, with elderly tenants paying roughly 30 percent of their income toward rent. Although the company often upgrades properties after acquiring them, Robinson said there are no immediate plans to renovate the roughly 40-year-old building.
“We’re really enamored with it,” Robinson said. “It’s very well managed … and in a beautiful location. I’ve seen a lot of properties. This is just a jewel, and it’s 100-percent occupied.”
Cathedral Place currently houses 186 residents, about 27 of whom are Catholic, according to the Archdiocese. To qualify for residency, applicants must be at least 62 years old or disabled, and must meet minimum requirements for independent living.
Archbishop Thomas Rodi did not directly answer questions about the transaction, instead directing responses through Rob Herbst, editor of the Catholic Week and a spokesman for the Archdiocese. Herbst said the property was sold because it “no longer met the spiritual mission on which it was founded.”
Proceeds from the sale will go toward paying off debt tied to the apartment complex, with the remainder earmarked for improvements to Camp Cullen, a youth retreat center the Archdiocese operates in Baldwin County.
Cathedral Place has a history stretching back more than four decades in downtown Mobile. The building was erected in 1975 at the direction of Bishop John L. May, who wanted to create housing for elderly residents with limited income. Catholic Housing LLC was formed to oversee the project, which was built with roughly $4 million in HUD funding. May dedicated the building on Nov. 21, 1975, and it was originally staffed by the Daughters of Charity before the Archdiocese later turned to a professional management firm to run day-to-day operations.
The sale is the second major downtown Mobile property transaction involving the Archdiocese in recent months. In February, the Archdiocese sold the former St. Joseph Catholic Church on Springhill Avenue to 24/7 Development Partners of Alabama for $650,000. St. Joseph’s parish, which dated back to 1857, was merged into the Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception when the church closed more than a year earlier. Proceeds from that sale were placed in the capital funds of the Cathedral-Basilica, and the future use of the former church building remains undetermined.
Some items from inside the former St. Joseph’s, including the altar, pews, stations of the cross, baptistry and statues, are being relocated to St. Ignatius parish for use in a new church there.
Together, the two sales reflect a broader consolidation of downtown Mobile Catholic properties as the Archdiocese looks to shore up its finances and redirect resources toward other ministries, even as it works to preserve continuity for the elderly residents who call Cathedral Place home.