Requires Separation of Tax Lots, Bishop’s Approval
By Linda Collins
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — The historic St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Brooklyn Heights has announced the sale of part of its property, a five-story brownstone at 122 Pierrepont St., to a Brooklyn Heights family.
“This is an important step toward obtaining the funds we need to renovate the parish building [at 157 Montague St., adjacent to the church],” said the Rev. Angela Askew, priest-in-charge, in a July letter to parishioners. “The parish has agreed upon the use of these funds solely for this renovation, as it will permit us to expand outreach and service activities.”
Renovations for the church and parish hall, which were built in 1844-47, have been the focus of fundraising efforts for many years.
According to Rev. Askew, the planned renovations for the parish building include an elevator, meeting rooms, more commodious bathrooms, air conditioning, and better heating and electrical systems.
The sale price of the Pierrepont property was not indicated in her letter, and the information was not available from brokers at Brown Harris Stevens (BHS) who handled the sale. However, according to an earlier listing on the BHS web site, the asking price was $4.4 million.
The building, which was most recently occupied by a preschool on the lower floors and residential tenants on the upper floors, has been on the market for sometime.
On its web site, Brown Harris Stevens describes the building as “a grand townhouse,” with a parlor floor that has soaring ceilings, huge pier mirrors, marble mantles and original details. Additionally, there is a large extension on the parlor and garden floors.
The third floor is currently used as a one-bedroom apartment with a potential terrace over the lower floor extension, and the top two floors comprise a duplex apartment with the top floor’s peaked roof creating “interesting architectural possibilities.”
According to BHS, the house lends itself to a variety of uses, either a huge lower duplex and two spacious high income rentals; a lower duplex and upper triplex; a quadruplex and garden rental; or “a very grand one family home.”
Bill Ross of Halstead Properties, who had visited the site, commented that it was “a much more complicated transaction than the sale of a normal brownstone,” primarily because of the need to separate the brownstone’s tax lot from the larger church tax lot.
“It’s all still in the works,” he said.
Rev. Askew said the sale now requires the permission of the bishop — Orris G. Walker Jr. of the Diocese of Long Island — and the Standing Committee of the Diocese.
“Then we file for the approval of the sale from the New York State Supreme Court, which, after diocesan approval, is expected to be granted relatively promptly,” she said.
Meanwhile, the church must begin emptying and cleaning the brownstone for the new owners. “The groups who regularly use the Guild Room will soon have to find an alternate meeting place,” she added.
© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2007
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