Chelsea church site for sale as resi conversion

Chelsea’s St. Columba Roman Catholic Church is being marketed as one of the next residential conversions in the city.

The vacant property at 329-343 West 25th Street, which comprises the church and rectory, a school building and convent, is for sale, listed by JLL brokers Guthrie Garvin and Jonathan Hageman.

The site spans three adjacent parcels with a combined lot size of 20,000 square feet and, according to the listing, is zoned for up to 128,400 square feet of floor space. In the past four years, only one Manhattan development site with a larger footprint has sold, the listing claims.

The church is at 343 West 25th Street between Eighth and Ninth avenues, which includes the rectory. The school building is next door at 331 West 25th Street, and the convent at 329 West 25th Street served as a residence for retired nuns.

Some members of the local community have suspected for at least the past two years that the church property was not long for this world. The Chelsea Community News reported potential asbestos and lead exposure when a sanctuary canopy collapsed in September 2022, pulling down a mural from a brick wall.

From the listing, it appears to be a foregone conclusion that the site will be converted to housing.

Catholic church membership in New York City and nationwide has been in decline for decades. Churches with financial troubles are becoming increasingly popular candidates for residential development projects, although such conversions can be challenging.

Two developers in the past 10 years have attempted to convert the shuttered St. Luke’s Evangelical Lutheran Church at 257 Washington Avenue in Brooklyn to residences. Brookland Capital and then Brooklyn developer Serabjit Singh Malhotra were unsuccessful, partly because of financial difficulties but also because of permit denials for the registered landmark.

The St. Columba buildings, however, are not registered with the Department of Buildings as landmarks, according to public records.

JLL said the space is not only empty and ready for immediate demolition but could be one of the first Chelsea projects to qualify for the state’s new 485x property tax break. The entire site, which has 200 feet of frontage along West 25th Street, allows for residential or community space as-of-right.

Many office buildings constructed around the turn of the 20th century are not suited for residential conversion because of the lack of natural light. However, JLL said the St. Columba space does not have that problem thanks to the low- to mid-rise nature of the surrounding lots and unobstructed, 360-degree views.

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