Harlem Church To Be Redeveloped Into Apartments

HARLEM, NY — Another Harlem church is redeveloping into a mixed-use building that will feature apartments and a new space for the congregation, according to plans filed recently with the city.

The Grace Congregational Church of Harlem filed plans to construct a new seven-story development on the site of its West 139th Street church building, located between Edgecombe Avenue and Frederick Douglass Boulevard. The new building will rise 75-feet-tall and contain 35 apartment units.

With 28,927 square feet of space zoned for residential use, the average apartment in the new development will be about 826 square feet. The development also has 5,109 square feet zoned for community facility space, which will be used for the new church space, according to building plans.

Plans to demolish the existing church building have not been filed.

Places of worship around New York City, especially in Harlem, are exploring redevelopment in order to stay alive amid the financial pressures of operating in the city.