Church to Lease (and Share) Historic NYC Protestant Dutch Church Building

[smac97]

Here:

Quote

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is coming to the Upper West Side.

The ministry signed a lease for 40,000 square feet of shared and dedicated space at West End Collegiate Church’s facility located at 245 West 77th St.

Cool.  I wonder if this is the first time the Church has leased a church building from another religious group (and/or the first time it has shared such leased facilities).

Quote

The Mormon church will share the space with the West End Collegiate congregation, something which house of worship’s senior minister celebrated. 

“So often we hear of churches forced to make difficult decisions about their buildings or their ministry because of our ever-changing socio/cultural/economic landscape.  That’s not the story of our faith.  At West End, we are telling the story of God’s abundant blessings by welcoming new partners in faith to our building.  We are writing a new chapter where there is room enough for all, where everyone may belong, and where grace and love abounds,” said William Critzman, senior minister of West End and President of The Collegiate Church of the City of New York.

"{N}ew partners in faith."  Wow.  

Quote

Both congregations will occupy the building in tandem, with each of them having dedicated spaces. The two congregations will share the building’s sanctuary, gym, multipurpose room, kitchen and chapel. There are also talks of a third religious group potentially making themselves at home at West End Collegiate Church.

 

OPEN Impact Real Estate (OPEN), a leading woman-owned commercial real estate services company, brokered the lease.

“West End Collegiate was looking to activate the recently vacated space to support its programmatic and financial goals.  The rare combination of a dedicated entrance and access to multiple public assembly spaces appealed to many religious and cultural organizations,” said Stephen Powers, co-founder of OPEN.  “We are thrilled to have helped implement a shared space model that maximizes the use of large multi-purpose spaces which frequently are underutilized on many religious campuses.”

“West End Collegiate has an opportunity to reimagine and reinvigorate itself following the challenges of Covid.  We are adapting to our new circumstances, and thrilled with the outcome of our Committee’s work which strengthens the financial position of the church and sets the table for its continued successful operations and growth,” said Margaret Tobin, West End Church member and Chair of the Strategic Real Estate Committee.

I am glad to see religious groups helping each other.

Thanks,

-Smac

[pogi]

It makes a lot of financial sense for small congregations to share buildings.  

[Stormin' Mormon]

According to Google Streetview, here's what the building looks like:

edited to add: never mind that Google tells me the address is 299 W. 77th St; I had to position the camera to get a better angle on the building, and doing so caused the address to shift.

Edited January 11, 2024 by Stormin' Mormon

[smac97]

5 minutes ago, Stormin' Mormon said:

According to Google Streetview, here's what the building looks like:

edited to add: never mind that Google tells me the address is 299 W. 77th St; I had to position the camera to get a better angle on the building, and doing so caused the address to shift.

Here's the Wikipedia article on this building: West End Collegiate Church

It has an interesting history.

Thanks,

-Smac

[Calm]

When we lived in Moscow, we rented the use on Sunday of a school for two branches to meet in.  It had been a convent school way back and the government was giving back many Russian Orthodox church properties at that time, so it was technically a convent school again.  There was likely a contract in place or we would have been kicked out immediately when the nuns took over (there were some around each Sunday keeping an eye on things…no smilies, but no one in Moscow ever smiled back, out of the city very different). We left before the branch leaders had found an alternative place.

But my guess that is not the kind of example you are thinking of.   

Edited January 12, 2024 by Calm

[revelstoked]

On 1/11/2024 at 10:32 AM, smac97 said:

I wonder if this is the first time the Church has leased a church building from another religious group (and/or the first time it has shared such leased facilities).

No.  Back in the 60's before the Boulder Colorado congregation had their own building they leased space from the Seventh Day Adventists.  Worked well.  I'm sure there are other stories like it.

[Calm]

We leased a Masonic hall in Illinois for Primary in my youth. It wasn’t till much later O realized how unlikely that should have been at that time. 

[Kenngo1969]

3 hours ago, revelstoked said:

No.  Back in the 60's before the Boulder Colorado congregation had their own building they leased space from the Seventh Day Adventists.  Worked well.  I'm sure there are other stories like it.

Especially since they meet on Saturday, and we meet on Sunday? (Just asking! )

[mfbukowski]

On 1/11/2024 at 9:56 AM, pogi said:

It makes a lot of financial sense for small congregations to share buildings.  

In Manhattan?  Heck Yeah!

They should get a Synagogue in there on Saturdays.

Oh wait.  Pictures of Jesus might not work....

Amish? 

🤔

Edited January 14, 2024 by mfbukowski

[MrShorty]

Perhaps it's just me with a soft spot for old church buildings, but the one thing that came to my mind while reading @smac97's Wikipedia link was that I hope something about this rental agreement helps preserve the old building. Preservation isn't always the most "efficient" use of funds, but I have a sentimental spot that believes it is valuable even if it isn't efficient.