In Graduate Hospital, the last few years have not been kind to many of the old churches that have long inhabited the neighborhood. Several have been demolished in favor of residential development, with the new homes among the fanciest and priciest in the neighborhood. It should come as no surprise that this sort of thing could also happen in Fishtown, and we have a feeling that the former Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ at 1407 Marlborough St. will soon fall victim to a similar fate.
Recently, the church merged with Saint Michael's on Cumberland Street, vacating their home of many years. The property went on the market a couple of months ago for $750K, and quickly went under agreement. According to the listing, the church was built in 1841. As you can see, it's a unique looking building with a certain kind of Spanish majesty to it.
At such a high sale price, we can't imagine that this is a case of another congregation coming to take over the building, nor would we guess that a developer is planning adaptive reuse. No, we would bet that a developer will demolish the building and replace it with five homes or maybe more. The lot is over 5,000 sqft, and could surely accommodate luxury homes with parking. The property also includes a vacant corner lot that's been used for parking.
Look, this is all speculation and it's certainly possible that the building isn't going anywhere. But our sense is that it would be a good idea to go take a look at it sooner rather than later. In our experience, it seems likely that it will face the wrecking ball.