Selling the Sky Above Its Steeple: A Historic Manhattan Church Wins Approval to Sell 27,000 Square Feet of Air Rights

• St Mark’s Church-in-the-Bowery won approval to sell 27,000 square feet of development rights
• The rights, about 20 per cent of its capacity, go to a housing development on Third Avenue
• It was the first such approval for a faith-based group under New York’s new zoning rules
• Thirty per cent of proceeds are reserved for maintenance, and 10 per cent is tithed to the diocese

St Mark’s Church-in-the-Bowery, a historic Episcopal parish in Manhattan’s East Village that Alexander Hamilton helped incorporate, received approval on July 21, 2026, from New York City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission to sell 27,000 square feet of transferable development rights, The Living Church reported on July 27, 2026.

The rights, about 20 per cent of the church’s development capacity, will be transferred to a housing development on Third Avenue. Commission chair Lisa Kersavage said it was “the first” such approval for a faith-based organisation under the city’s new zoning framework.

Rector Anne Marie Witchger explained the idea: “we own the property on which our building sits…but then we also own the space above our heads.”

The proceeds will support upkeep of the historic building. Ten per cent will be tithed to the Diocese of New York, and 30 per cent will be reserved for a maintenance plan that the commission will inspect every decade. The sale was expected to be finalised by the end of the year.

Jamaica does not have a market in transferable air rights, but the principle behind the deal applies: a church site often carries value beyond the building on it, whether as development potential, a car park, a rental unit or a long lease. St Mark’s found a way to unlock that value without selling its sanctuary and tied part of the proceeds to maintenance. Jamaican congregations with well-located land can ask the same questions, with professional valuation and planning advice, before a leaking roof forces a rushed sale.

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