There are many ways to wake up in church in the Hub. Add one more to the bulletin: A development team led by restaurateur Jon Cronin plans to convert a former Catholic church property dating from the Civil War into a 24-unit apartment building (time to really update our New Development Heatmap!). The four-story former Gate of Heaven Church at 616 East Fourth Street in Southie, which opened in 1863 and became a parish hall in 1900, will have seven units on each of the first and second floors, and 10 bi-level apartments on the upper floors. At the behest of the city, the exterior will be preserved in a $7 million renovation.
The redone church/parish hall will have conversion company, according to Greg Turner in The Herald: Cronin redeveloped the adjacent rectory into a condo complex; and the Archdiocese of Boston is in negotiations with another developer to convert the former Gate of Heaven school building into apartments. Salvation comes in many forms.
· Developer Sees Gate-Way to 24 Southie Apartments [Herald]
· Religious Conversions: Four Hub Chances to Wake Up in Church [Curbed Boston]
· Our New Development Heatmap: 42 Sites... and Counting [Curbed Boston]
[Stuart Cahill via The Herald]