Episcopal

The Episcopal Church is preparing to market its 12-storey Manhattan headquarters at 815 Second Avenue, assessed at about $51 million, and hopes for a long-term ground lease that could see it redeveloped, potentially as affordable housing.

The Episcopal Church of New Hampshire is leasing Christ Church Portsmouth’s land at no cost for 98 years for 44 affordable workforce homes, a survivors’ centre with transitional units and a childcare centre, while worship continues on site.

The Episcopal Diocese of Georgia kept two former church properties, in Savannah and Augusta, and turned them into busy community hubs with food pantries, meals, recovery groups, classes and worship, rather than selling them.

A Nashville judge approved a settlement requiring the sale of the former Central Church of Christ building, assessed at $11 million, with 80 per cent of proceeds going to the founder’s family estate after a court found a deed restriction was violated.

St Luke’s Episcopal Church in Altoona, Pennsylvania, sold its building to a local contractor and now rents back its sanctuary and food pantry space for $800 a month, with utilities included.

The Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles aimed to develop affordable housing on a quarter of its 133 church campuses, building on projects such as senior apartments in Placentia and Buena Park and supportive housing in Riverside.

The Episcopal Diocese of Newark is selling its Mulberry Street headquarters to the New Jersey Performing Arts Center for $3.85 million and moving into St Peter’s, a closed church it already owns in Livingston.

The Episcopal Diocese of Chicago decided to sell its five-storey headquarters near the Magnificent Mile, saying an underused office on prime land was poor stewardship, with a meaningful portion of proceeds going to affordable housing.

A year after Ecuador’s 2016 earthquake, the Episcopal Diocese of Ecuador Litoral had supported four damaged churches, helped rebuild 10 houses and set up a solidarity loan programme for families.

The Episcopal Diocese of Rochester sold Diocesan House, a 1913 mansion on East Avenue that had been its headquarters since 1954, for about $1.2 million, invested the proceeds and moved into rented space at a parish church.

Julia Groom, president of the Episcopal Church Building Fund, described how a lender set up to finance construction began helping struggling congregations decide whether to merge, sell, share or reuse their buildings.