Kitsilano church put up for sale for almost $12 million
The Anglican Church has decided to sell St. Mark’s in Kitsilano where no Anglicans have worshipped for five years.
St. Mark’s Anglican at 1805 Larch sits on three lots with a 150-foot frontage along West Second. The total square footage of the corner site is 17,700 square feet. The asking price is $11,998,000, according to a listing for Colliers International.
Rev. Richard Leggett said the diocese has a number of properties where congregations have declined to the point that the buildings can no longer be sustained.
The diocese considered which should be sold and which should be kept in case an Anglican ministry could be re-established.
“St. Mark’s was one of those properties which we determined that it was highly unlikely that we would ever re-establish an Anglican congregation in that location,” he said by phone.
Leggett is chair of the trustees at St. Mark’s. He’s also the priest at St. Faith’s Anglican Church at 57th and East Boulevard in Vancouver.
The Colliers International promotional brochure says the property is “strategically located” on the city ’s west side within walking distance of Kits Beach.
The congregation that used to worship at St. Mark’s moved east and merged with St. George’s to form a new congregation called St. Mary Magdalene.
“Anglican congregations rely on the funding support of an actual worshipping community,” Leggett said.
“In 2012-2013, it became clear that there was no longer a viable community to support the (St. Mark’s) building.”
Since the last Anglican worshipped in St. Mark’s five years ago, the building has housed community groups on one-year leases.
A congregation from the Tenth Church denomination started worshipping in St. Mark’s on Sunday mornings three years ago because it had to leave Kitsilano high school due to seismic upgrade, Leggett said.
No one from Tenth Church could be reached for comment. Its lease expires May 14, according to Colliers.
Leggett said other Anglican Church properties for sale in Metro Vancouver include St. Edward in Richmond, St. Margaret of Scotland in Burnaby and St. Monica’s in Horseshoe Bay.
He said healthy Anglican congregations on the west side of Vancouver include St. Helen’s in West Point Grey, St. Chad’s at 23rd and Trafalgar and St. Philip’s at 27th and Highbury.
“The truth is that the demographics have worked against us,” Leggett said about St. Mark’s.
“After 100 years of the parish being there, the fact is that there is no longer a sustainable congregation.”
Money from the sale of St. Mark’s will go into the church’s consolidated trust fund, which is used to extend Anglican ministry into the community.