“A Financial Burden”: A Brooklyn Baptist Church Agrees to Sell Its Site for $28.3 Million

• First Baptist Church in Pierrepont Street agreed to sell 360 Schermerhorn Street for $28.3 million
• Buyers Tankhouse and Lonicera Partners plan to demolish the two-storey building for housing
• The site has about 145,000 buildable square feet
• The deal needs congregation approval and no objection from New York’s Attorney General

A Brooklyn church has agreed to sell a valuable downtown site to residential developers, Commercial Observer reported in August 2026.

First Baptist Church in Pierrepont Street will sell 360 Schermerhorn Street, on the border of Downtown Brooklyn and Boerum Hill, for $28.3 million to Brooklyn-based developers Tankhouse and Lonicera Partners. The site spans about 145,000 buildable square feet, according to PincusCo data. The developers plan to demolish the existing two-storey religious building and build housing, though details were not yet available.

In its petition, the church described its current site as “a financial burden.” According to the report, the church plans to move to a new location as part of the deal, relocating all its ministries and continuing similar services there.

The sale is “contingent on approval from the congregation, as well as no objection by the Attorney General of the State of New York,” the report said. In New York, sales of religious property generally require court or Attorney General approval, a safeguard meant to ensure that deals are fair and properly authorised.

The price reflects the value of development rights in a fast-changing part of Brooklyn. A low, two-storey church building on a site that could hold a much larger residential building is exactly the kind of property developers seek, and the gap between what the church uses and what the land allows is where the money lies.

Jamaican church sites in growing commercial areas may carry similar hidden value. Before selling, a congregation should know what the land could legally hold, get more than one offer, make sure members approve according to the church’s constitution, and plan the move carefully so that ministries continue without interruption.

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