The St. Charles Seminary filed a petition in New York State Supreme Court to sell an eight-acre site in Staten Island for $10.4 million.
The property at 209 Flagg Place was once the estate of the architect Ernest Flagg and includes a landmarked mansion designed by Flagg, along with a fieldstone water tower that was once a windmill.
The order that runs the seminary, the Pious Society of the Missionaries of St. Charles Borromeo, has been in talks with the buyer since 2006, but the deal was stalled by development setbacks and ensuing lawsuits, according to the petition.
The parties agreed to resolve the lawsuit on the condition that St. Charles sell to the buyers, Stone Court Developers. The development opportunities for the vacant property are limited because a two-acre portion of the site, called Stone Court, is landmarked, and because the area is zoned for single-family housing.
St. Charles moved to Manhattan several years back, and operates out of a building on 27 Carmine Street. They also purchased a six-story building at 307 East 60th Street in 2013 for $8.25 million.
Flagg, a famed architect, is best known for designing the Singer Building in Manhattan, which was the tallest building when it was built in 1908, and the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington D.C.
A spokesperson for the St. Charles Seminary was not immediately available for comment.