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Boerum Hill's Church of the Redeemer Sells for $20 Million

By Nikhita Venugopal | September 15, 2014 2:48pm
 The Church of the Redeemer at Pacific Street and Fourth Avenue in Boerum Hill was sold recently for $20 million, according to officials.
The Church of the Redeemer at Pacific Street and Fourth Avenue in Boerum Hill was sold recently for $20 million, according to officials.
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DNAinfo/Nikhita Venugopal

BOERUM HILL — The Church of the Redeemer in Boerum Hill sold for $20 million to a New York real estate invesment firm earlier this month, officials announced Monday.

The decades-old church, located at Pacific Street and Fourth Avenue, was sold the week of Sept. 5 to the Jackson Group due to “mounting monthly expenses” that could not be covered, according to representatives of the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island, which owned the building.

“It became clear in a short time there were no realistic prospects for a large increase in donations or in members that could have covered immediate and ongoing expenses,” the Right Reverend Lawrence Provenzano said.

Provenzano informed former leaders and members of the congregation of the sale in a letter last week.

In 2012, officials announced that the church was slated for demolition due to the building’s need for extensive structural repair work that would have cost $4 to $5 million.

Residents have since attempted to save the Gothic Revival building.

“We deeply regret the sale of this property without discussion of its future preservation,” said Howard Kolins, president of the Boerum Hill Association“The [Association] continues to seek protection for this historic church property which has been long neglected by the Episcopal Diocese."

Church officials said they spent more than a year searching for ways to continue the ministry in the Brooklyn community and even considered joint commercial ventures at the property that would have included space for the congregation.

However, those options were not viable, the church said.

“[W]ith monthly expenses mounting, it became necessary to accept a commercial offer for an outright sale of the building and property,” Provenzano said.

A decline in congregation members and damage to the building caused the church to close leading up to the 2012 demolition announcement. But the church’s crumbling structure still stands and it was not immediately clear if the demolition would take place. 

The proceeds of the sale would “be used to enhance support of a variety of ministries in Brooklyn and in other parts of the diocese,” Provenzano added.