REVIVE: CHURCH AUCTION SET FOR NEXT WEEK

The controversial, homophobic church at the corner of 123rd Street on Lenox is up for auction next week and some might wonder how much it would cost to buy the large, landmark building.  To put things into perspective, one has to review how a basic townhouse auction usually turns out when they happen uptown.  A low price around $500K might be the starting point but property values in Manhattan are no longer a myth.  Cash buyers always show up and the deal usually closes at $1.2 million or so.

Now let's talk about the aforementioned church in the Mount Morris Park Historic District.  This building is probably equal to at least 3 to 4 large townhouses so one can only imagine what type of cash it will eventually go for.  Back in 2011, notable artist Ugo Rondinone purchased a foreclosed house of worship just a bit further north on Fifth Avenue for $2.7 million in a cash transaction.  Therefore we would suggest to have at least $3 million upfront to even be considered a viable bidder on February 24th.

The other main concern here is that the government should establish a clause that the building has to be renovated and put to use in a short amount of time to deter the land grabbers.  These types of opportunists do nothing for years with purchased property and just resell eventually without investing an extra dime into the community.  Whoever ends up owning the building will probably have to have another million and change on hand for the renovations so this is not a simple sale for an average deal seeker.