Yet Another Church Loft Condo In Toronto! – Toronto Realty Blog
I’m about the least religious guy in the world, so excuse my ignorance, but I have a question…
What happens when your church shuts down?
Saving the question of why a church shuts down (especially as some of these are 150 years old…) for another day, I’m curious as to what happens when the place you’ve gone every Sunday for a year, a decade, or your whole life, closes its doors.
Let’s say you’re Episcopalian. Do you look for another Episcopalian church? What if there isn’t one even remotely close to you, ie. it’s three towns over. Do you go to the next best thing? Is a Protestant church sufficient, or must it be specifically Episcopalian?
Over the last fifteen years, I’ve written many blogs on the topic of “church lofts,” so this one is merely the next in line.
But what I find so fascinating about this former church on Annette Street being turned into a condo is that there are already two church condos on Annette Street alone: a former Baptist church at 200 Annette Street, now consisting of eight condominium units, and a former Presbyterian church at 152 Annette Street, now consisting of thirty-four condominiums.
Should the Catholic church at 163 Annette Street be expecting new members or an offer from a developer?
Church lofts in Toronto contain some of the most beautiful, unique, character-filled residential spaces that I’ve ever seen, and I wonder if there’s a certain level of guilt to be had with these? Is it blasphemous to take a building that was intended for worshipping and celebrating God and turning it into a space to watch Netflix and chill?
Another discussion point for today: do developers convert churches into condos because they can sell the hard-loft conversion for more money, and because there are cost-savings associated with the existing dwelling? Or do they convert churches because they’re heritage and thus they’re prohibited from tearing it down to build a 6-storey midrise?
In any event, I plan to return to this site in a year to see how the project has turned out, and I’m looking forward to seeing the first resale unit hit the market thereafter!
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