As most of us are well aware, some of the city’s most coveted architectural stock is its churches. That said, churches are some of the last structures to be rehabbed, because they are costly to reconfigure, and maintain. When it comes to churches, adaptive reuse is an exciting thought, but it can also be tough to make the numbers work. Many of the city’s abandoned churches are in rough condition – usually the larger and more impressive ones that were shuttered due to dwindling congregations.
One thing is for sure – Buffalo is still chock full of church edifices. Some have been rescued, for residential purposes, or for venues. Others sit idly by, waiting for their time to come. We have lost some churches along the way, such as Saint Mary’s on The Hill, which is now a parking lot for D’Youville College. North Park Baptist Church is now Bell Tower Lofts. Others are hanging on by a thread. Unfortunately, to this day, there are few developers and investment parties seeking the challenge of renovating… but they are out there.
Recently, Buffalo Rising was approached by a company that said that it wants to renovate a church into its offices, possibly with a residential component. A search on Loopnet pulled up a couple of interesting listings. A search on PreservationReadyBuffalo listed:
- Saint Gerard’s Church 1152 East Delavan Avenue Buffalo, NY 14215
- Saint Ann’s Church 651 Broadway, Buffalo NY 14212
- Saint Francis de Sales Church 575 Humboldt Parkway, Buffalo NY 14208
Last year, we featured Delaware Avenue Baptist Church, which still appears to be for sale. There’s also 1827 Breckenridge Church. Surprisingly, there does not seem to be a comprehensive page, anywhere, that is dedicated to churches that are for sale in Buffalo. To me, that seems odd, especially with the growing outcry to save this city’s abandoned, shuttered, and at-risk houses of worship.
The company in question is hoping to rehab a church, if it makes financial sense. They are willing to take a risk, but they don’t have limitless dollars. Now, I know that there are a number of churches out there that need a new lease on life. I’m hoping that Buffalo Rising readers can help to identify additional churches that are for sale in the city. We’ve seen a number of great saves/adaptive reuse projects as of late (Our Lady of Lourdes, Lafayette Lofts, St. Clare Roman Catholic Church). And the Ascension Church project got approved. There has been no recent news on the status of the proposed Bird Avenue Church conversion project. Also, the Richmond Methodist Episcopal Church (performing arts center) is underway, as is Temple Beth El (Buffalo headquarters for Sentient Science CEO Ward Thomas). Let’s see if we can add another one to that list.
If you have a church in mind, please send an email to newell@buffalorising.com. Be sure to include as much information as possible. We will, of course, keep you posted if anything should come to pass.
Since posting, readers have been making suggestions. I am adding a couple as we go:
Church Building & Rectory House (Linwood & Ferry)