CONVERTING CHURCHES TO CONDOS
Reconstructions bring social, logistical challenges
It looks ancient, but one formidable stone church has, in its own way, kept up with the times.
Constructed in 1891, the Romanesque Revival building started as a Presbyterian church. But that congregation began to fade in the 1950s, and eventually another took over. And then came others — none able to find their footing.
By 1994, when Imani Temple arrived, the building — in Washington’s Capitol Hill neighbourhood — was in foreclosure. It wasn’t a perfect fit, but the price was good. But by 2015, it was sold again. Today, the church is on track to become a condo building, joining dozens of others in recent years.
Real estate observers didn’t miss the trend: As churches’ congregations move and property values soar, increasing religious institutions are selling their properties in the city, usually with plans to move closer to their congregants.
Some of the churches are demolished, but those with architectural merit are often adapted by developers for new uses, usually residential.
Church conversions are occurring around the U.S. According to the CoStar Group, which tracks real estate data nationwide, church sales in the United States jumped by almost 100 per cent between 2010 and 2015, and the number of church redevelopment projects more than tripled during that time.
But few churches are easily turned into homes, and developers often face hurdles. To boot, some experts say that a church’s former life as a sacred space requires a particular kind of respect.
The most obvious challenge in converting a church is the building’s layout. Religious structures tend to be built around a sanctuary: a huge room with high ceilings and, often, big windows.
“In order to get housing into a volume like that, you need to put new floors into that structure, and you have to co-ordinate with the big windows,” said Scott Matties, a principal architect who has been observing church conversions. “It can be done, but it’s definitely a challenge.”
Developer Andrew Rubin, who is turning a church into a 26-unit condo building, concurs. Figuring out how to work with a space that had a balcony and an upper mezzanine — which eventually became the second and third floors in the new units — was a long process. Ditto with the Gothic Revival building’s abundant stained-glass windows.
But in the end, Rubin said, the windows became “the centrepiece of the whole thing.” He wound up sending them to some craftsmen who took the stained-glass panels apart, cleaned them and reassembled them. The windows will have a few clear pieces for visibility, and many will be designed to open.
A less-apparent sticking point is many church buildings’ deferred maintenance. Congregations often have very limited money, and fix- ing old but functional buildings is not necessarily a first priority. It is almost a given that developers will encounter surprises, whether crumbling exterior brickwork, a disintegrating foundation or shoddily constructed additions done over decades or even centuries.
“It needs a lot of work — a ton,” said Klein, whose team expects to start construction of the Imani Temple condo conversion this fall. “It needs a full exterior renovation; windows are broken; the HVAC doesn’t work; the plumbing is in poor shape.”
It will be expensive, but Klein says he is looking forward to restoring elements such as the church tower’s boarded-up windows, which are visible from blocks away, to their former glory. That should make neighbours happy.
That is an important point. Churches matter to people: to congregations and to communities.
Remembering that a church is more than brick and mortar is crucial when working with religious buildings, said Ben Heimsath, an architect who specializes in church design and renovations.
“Sadly, I think there are as many examples of what not to do as there are positive reuse projects,” Heimsath said. “The most painful examples are the thoughtless or inappropriate use of church symbols or specific worship functions” — like an altarpiece reused as a table or a bar, for example.
Ultimately, he said, it comes down to one thing: respect for the building’s former life.
Sadly, there are as many (conversion) examples of what not to do as there are positive reuse projects.