City Approves Plan To Convert Clinton Hill Church Into Townhouses

CLINTON HILL, NY — A plan to convert a historic Clinton Hill church and adjacent school building into eight townhouses was approved by the city this week, Curbed first reported.

The Landmark Preservation Commission approved Brookland Capital's revised plans for townhouses to take over the former St. Luke's Evangelical Lutheran Church, 257 Washington Ave., at their Tuesday meeting after the agency rejected the developer's original proposal last year.

The new plans call to build eight one to three bedroom townhouses inside the church and adjoining school building on the property. Each structure will get four units inside, with the larger ones set to be built in the church, according to the plans.

St. Luke's was originally built in 1895 but closed in 2014 because of high repair costs and a shrinking number of parishioners, the New York Daily News reported.

Brookland bought the property in 2015 for $8.8 million, setting a record in the neighborhood at the time, to turn it into condos but tried to flip it later that year, according to the Commercial Observer and the Real Deal.

They kept the property and announced plans last year to build five townhouses and 14 apartments inside the two buildings, Brownstoner reported.

The LPC rejected the original application and Brookland presented a new one this week that switched entirely to townhouses and reduced the size of their planned roof extension, according to the plans.

Image: Landmark Preservation Commission