Empty churches open doors to luxury condos

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: When developer Tony Pace had the chance to turn the 100-year-old former Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Ipswich into a luxury condo, he sought the blessing of a parish priest. “I needed to be sure it was OK,” said Pace, 45, who was raised Catholic in Medford. “He told me that if I treated it with respect, there was nothing wrong with it.” Guilt about turning a house of worship into a high-end home isn’t limited to crib Catholics.

Karnig Ostayan asked his Armenian pastor to bless the former St Theresa of the Child Jesus Church in Watertown, before turning the church and rectory into 11 upscale condos. “I want to sleep at night,” joked Ostayan, who attends St James Armenian Apostolic Church, across Mt Auburn Street. “Seriously, I know how much this church meant to people.” Many a neighbourhood church has gone condo. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston shuttered 65 parishes since instituting a sweeping parish consolidation in 2004. At least 30 properties have since been sold, many to developers eager to turn an old church into trendy housing, even in a declining real estate market.

Catholic canon law requires that a church be stripped of religious items, including altars, statues, and crucifixes, before it is sold. “Our policy is to leave nothing of religious significance behind,” said Kathleen Heck, who oversees the transition of parishes for the archdiocese. And once all the saints have found new homes, what happens to the building? “It’s available for secular use,” said Brother James Peterson, head of canonical affairs at the archdiocese.

When selling a church, the archdiocese issues a request for proposals. The archdiocese pulled out from a deal to turn a Quincy church into a clinic that would have provided counseling on abortion. The former Blessed Sacrament Church in Jamaica Plain is being turned into a mix of upscale, market-rate, and affordable condominiums. The final call on any property sale lies with Cardinal Sean P O’Malley. “In general, the cardinal likes to hear about things that are here to help people,” Peterson said. Even if that includes luxury condos, some priced at over $1 million.