Brooklyn landlord Haim Nortman has scooped up a Harlem church for $28.5 million.
Nortman purchased the LaGree Baptist Church, an 11,890-square-foot building at 362 West 125th Street, according to documents filed with the city’s Department of Finance on Wednesday. The four-story church has up to 75,099 square feet of buildable residential space and could be as big as 81,087 square feet if plans include a community facility, documents show.
BSD Realty Worldwide brokered the sale. A representative for the agency was not immediately available to comment.
Records show that LaGree bought the property in 1975, though the price wasn’t clear. The building had been converted from a movie theater into a church. LaGree was established in 1927 and had several different locations before settling at the 125th Street location, according to a blog run by Columbia University’s Institute for Religion, Culture and Public Life. It’s not clear if and where the congregation plans to move. Dorothy Williams, president of the church, did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment.
Nortman owns two other properties in Harlem, including a residential building at 220 West 149th Street and a mixed-use building at 2546 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard. Nortman’s plans for the church were not immediately clear. The latest plans for the property filed with the city’s Department of Buildings were in June, seeking to work on the facade of the first through third floors.