Another Montreal-area church may be about to go condo.
Mountainside United Church in Westmount has been sold for $4 million.
Developer Daniel Revah of Corev Immobilier purchased the heritage building with the hopes of turning it into housing.
“The bones, the envelope, the stained glass,” he said. “It's absolutely amazing, it's art, basically.”
Revah is currently developing a former convent in Outremont into high-end condos.
“It's difficult to convert them but the base of the building, the height, windows et cetera, you cannot get this in new condos,” he said.
Built in 1914, Mountainside United Church is an example of neo-gothic architecture and has been designated a building of heritage interest.
Altogether, the church and its property occupy about 4,600 square metres (or 50,000 square feet).
The decision to sell was a difficult one for the church's congregation, said Don McLeod, chair of church trustees.
“Our congregation is getting smaller. There weren't enough active members to really keep operating the building. Associated with that is a lack of money coming in,” he said.
The church will have to come up with a future plan, which may involve merging with another congregation. Churchgoers have another three years before that happens.
Revah said the key is to repurpose these kinds of buildings while respecting their history and architecture.
“Communities today, churches, synagogues and so on and so forth are not doing as well as they used to and something has to be done with these properties,” he said.
Revah said he would like to convert the church into about a dozen condos or a few individual homes.
Before he can do that, however, he’ll need the building to be rezoned and have his plans approved by Westmount city council.
“Our planning program at this time does not foresee a multifamily development in that area, so it would be something that is quite far off from the objectives of the city for that area,” said Tom flies, the city’s director of urban planning.
Revah said it’s a risk he’s willing to take.
