(l-r) St. Agnes Church, parish house (CityRealty)
At a time when religious service attendance is dropping and New York City land and real estate are more valuable than ever, church to residence conversions are being embraced as a means of raising much-needed funds religious institutions and creating new housing units in coveted neighborhoods. The latest example may be found on the Carrol Gardens/Gowanus border, where St. Agnes Roman Catholic Church ground leased its parish house at 433 Sackett Street to Watermark Capital Group ("Watermark") and Shulem Kessler in August 2025.
Watermark is an extremely prolific developer of church-to-residences (h/t Crain's New York Business), and notably leased land at 321 Wythe Avenue in Williamsburg from Saints Peter and Paul Church; they later demolished the single-story building to build a 19-story rental tower. But on Sackett Street, the church itself recently underwent extensive exterior work to be restored to its former glory, and no exterior work is planned for the parish house.
In this article:
(l-r) St. Agnes Roman Catholic Church (CityRealty) | 433 Sackett Street, summer 2025 (CityRealty)
Permits call for approximately 19,000 square feet of floor area for residential use, bringing the 16 planned units to an average of nearly 1,200 square feet. Watermark technically cannot create condos because they don't own the land, but condops or co-ops are far more likely. However, high-end rentals cannot be ruled out. A recent site visit saw work underway.
Amenities at 433 Sackett Street are set to include bike storage and cellar-level recreation space. It is located near popular Smith Street dining and the Carroll Street F/G subway stop. It is also located near several new construction buildings. Leasing is underway at the nearby Society Brooklyn, and construction recently began on Anagram Gowanus across the street.
433 Sackett Street zoning diagram (NYC Department of Buildings)
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Catherine Street with former St. Joseph's Church center-right, summer 2025 (CityRealty)
Just like new residential construction in Gowanus shows little sign of slowing down, neither do church-to-residence conversions in New York City. Across the river in Manhattan's Two Bridges/Chinatown, developer Rivington Company is moving forward with a church-to-residential conversion that would carve out 38 units and add two floors to the former Church of St. Joseph at 53 Catherine Street/1-5 Monroe Street. And yet, despite adding two floors, permits show that the church building is actually expected to shrink from 131 feet high to 99 feet high, suggesting that the cupolas on top of the building may be slated for demolition (boooo).
The most successful church-to-residence conversions combine original architectural details with modern elements. One block north of 433 Sackett Street, the former St. Paul and St. Agnes Roman Catholic Church at 415 Degraw Street was enlarged and converted to a six-unit condominium; the two- to four-bedroom units started at $2 million and quickly sold out. Fort Greene church-turned-condo The Abbey recently reached 50% sold after about one month of sales. At older buildings like Novare in Greenwich Village and The Landmark at Strong Place (the latter of which is not far from 433 Sackett Street), availabilities are few and far between.
415 Degraw Street, a recent church-to-condo conversion directly north of 433-435 Sackett Street
Churches to residences
463 West 142nd Street, #3B (Brown Harris Stevens Residential Sales LLC)
The Abbey, #7 (Douglas Elliman Real Estate)
140 West 81st Street, #2B
$6,650,000 (-4.9%)
Broadway Corridor | Condominium | 4 Bedrooms, 4 Baths | 2,802 ft2
140 West 81st Street, #2B (Modlin Group LLC)
Would you like to tour any of these properties?
Just complete the info below.
Or call us at (212) 755-5544
Would you like to tour any of these properties?
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