Landmarked St. Luke’s Evangelical Lutheran Church Has Been Sold And Will Become Condos
Soon, St. Luke’s Evangelical Lutheran Church (257 Washington Avenue) will look a lot different on the inside than it does on the outside.
Like St. Mark’s Episcopal Church over at 232 Adelphi before it, the 120-year-old landmarked English Gothic building has been sold to a real estate developer that plans to turn it into a residential condominium.
As first reported by the Commercial Observer, Brooklyn-based developer Brookland Capital bought the building for $8.8 million in a deal that closed this past Monday, August 17. The amount is apparently “a neighborhood record sales price this year, according to Mark David Fromm of Town Residential, who brokered the deal on behalf of Brookland along with colleague Brandon N. Gibson.”
Built and opened in 1895 after a fire nearly destroyed the previous church buildings on Carlton Avenue in 1893, St. Luke’s was founded by German-speaking Christians in 1871. It has not been in use since spring of 2014 due to a shrinking congregation and a need for major repairs.
City Department of Buildings records show that the site has not had any work done on it since September 2014, when approval was given for the installation of smoke and heat detecting fire alarms. However, a tree that sat on the site was also cut down this past March, silencing the many neighborhood birds that regularly perched there to serenade neighbors.
The landmarked building — which protects the exterior and other historical features from being altered without approval — features 29,250 square feet of space and sits on 32,000 square feet of land.
According to Fromm, “the developer plans to extend the building in the back and restore part of the exterior” and is “known for keeping the integrity of the structure.”
St. Luke’s proximity to Pratt institute — the two share origins as sitting on land that belonged to Charles Pratt — will make it highly desirable — although possibly unaffordable — as housing for students and families alike.