May 20, 2005 - Archdiocese of Boston Announces Additional Reconfiguration
Property Agreements
(Boston, MA) May 20, 2005… The Archdiocese of Boston today announced
it has signed purchase and sale agreements to sell five of the properties associated
with its reconfiguration plan and has also closed on another property. These
agreements result primarily from the solicitation of offers that began on November
15, 2004. The closings of these sale transactions are likely to continue over
the next several weeks subject to the satisfaction of a number of terms including
the continued process of due diligence.
The properties under agreement are as follows:
| Property Name |
Location |
Buyer |
Intended Use |
Total Square Footage |
| Former St. Joseph Church, Rectory & Hall |
Hyde Park |
Greater Faith Worship Center |
Worship & Meeting Place |
20,350 |
| Former Most Blessed Sacrament Rectory |
Quincy |
John Farrell & Skip Mofford |
Single family Housing |
3,895 |
| Former Blessed Sacrament Church, School, Rectory & Convent |
Cambridge |
Urban Spaces |
Housing |
82,500 |
| Former Notre Dame de Lourdes Church & Rectory, Lowell |
Lowell |
Carlisle Equity Partners |
Housing |
16,300 |
| Former St. Peter Church & Rectory |
Malden |
Grace Church of God |
Worship & Meeting Place |
11,700 |
The following sale has been completed and closed:
| Property Name |
Location |
Buyer |
Intended Use |
Total Square Footage |
| Former Sacred Heart Church & Rectory |
Medford |
Tufts University |
Institutional |
8,800 |
The Archdiocese entered into these agreements with the assistance of its
Real Estate Advisory Committee and upon receiving approval from the College
of Consultors and the Archdiocesan Finance Council.
The Process for Evaluating and Accepting Offers
The offers, solicited over a 90-day period, were
evaluated by the Archdiocesan Real Estate office and the Real Estate Advisory
Committee. After these consultations, Chancellor David Smith brought forth
recommendations to Archbishop Sean for the Archbishop’s consideration. The
Archbishop then presented offers for these four properties to the members of
the Archdiocesan Finance Council and the College of Consultors for their approval,
which he received.
The Archdiocese will continue
to solicit and review bids on a number of properties associated with its reconfiguration
plan. In addition to the first group of sixteen properties offered in November,
the Archdiocese is presently accepting bids on fifteen additional properties. Mr.
Smith will continue to report in The Pilot on all funds generated from
property sales and the use of any of these funds. A complete list of properties
being marketed is available at http://www.rcab.org/Parish_Reconfiguration/realEstate.html
Due to declining numbers of clergy, changing Catholic
demographics and financial pressure, the Archdiocese of Boston began the process
of parish reconfiguration in January of 2004. Through this process, the Archdiocese
is seeking to serve the needs of area Catholics by building parish communities
with resources to match needs. To date, 63 parishes have closed or merged as
part of the reconfiguration process.
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