UrbanTurf Goes to Church

• November 15th 2011

by Shilpi Paul

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Throughout the country, houses of worship have been reincarnated as places where people now live. The properties often maintain their grandiose aura, stained glass windows and 50-foot tall cathedral ceilings (literally). DC has its fair share of religious institutions turned homes, so UrbanTurf went about compiling properties in the city that are either in (or taking place of) former churches. (Note: This is not a comprehensive list.)

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Bishop’s Gate

The former chapel of one of DC’s oldest parish schools, St. Augustine’s Parochial School at 1715 15th Street NW (map) was sold in 1979 and converted into a condo project known as Bishop’s Gate. The gated community has 60 condos that range in size and layout, but many maintain the tall ceilings (some as high as 50 feet) and stained glass windows you would expect from a church conversion. Units at Bishop’s Gate can fetch over $1 million when they hit the market.

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3146 16th Street NW

The Meridian Hill Baptist Church on 16th Street in Mount Pleasant (map) has been sitting vacant since a fire blew through a neighboring building and caused major damage back in 2008. The Bozzuto Group is working with the church to redevelop the building and, with a 7-story addition, will turn it into a 55-unit residential building set to deliver in 2013.

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700 A Street NE

The Unity of Washington Church at 700 A Street NE (map), between Stanton Park and Lincoln Park in Capitol Hill, hit the market quietly in February for $1.5 million. The property recently sold for $1.25 million, but whether it will be a residential or commercial project is unknown at this time. Because it is zoned as R4, it could remain a church, become a public school or be turned into three residences.

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The Maia

The Faith Bible Church at 1350 Maryland Avenue NE (map) was purchased in August 2011 by Valor Development. With the help of PGN Architects, Valor will be building a 49-unit condo project with ground floor retail space called The Maia at the church site (unclear if aspects of the church will be maintained). The building is around the corner from H Street NE, and delivery is estimated for 2013.

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10914 Georgia Ave

A five-story, 221-unit apartment building is in the planning stages for the site of the First Baptist Church in Wheaton, not far from the Wheaton Metro (map). The First Baptist Church congregation still meets at the church, but the building is part of a larger Wheaton revitalization project that will include 1,300 new residential units and 600,000 square feet of retail. The current status of this project is unclear at the moment and there have been recent protests about the relocation of the First Baptist Church.

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The Residences at St. Monica’s

St. Monica’s, a former church on Capitol Hill, served congregations at 1340 Massachusetts Avenue SE (map) for 100 years. When the congregation merged with another church in 2009, Community Three Development turned the property into a nine-unit condo building. The developers worked with the existing architecture, keeping the vaulted ceilings and heavy timber columns. The units ranged in price from the $300,000’s to over $1 million and starting selling in March 2011.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/urbanturf_goes_to_church/4572.