On a cold January day in 2009, a pipe burst and flooded the boiler of the Home Street Presbyterian Church, in the Foxhurst section of the Bronx. A small electrical fire destroyed the boiler for good, and the company that insured the church failed during the Great Recession. Facing a winter without heat and lacking the funds to repair the boiler, the congregation scattered to other churches in the South Bronx, and the little chapel on Home Street was abandoned.
It has only slid further into neglect over the last seven years. Parts of the roof have fallen in, stained glass windows have broken, and facade panelling has come off. Now, the 1910 structure will be demolished to make way for affordable senior housing.
Developer Bronx Pro Group has filed new building applications for an eight-story residential building on the church’s former property at 1017 Home Street, on the corner of West Farms Road. The 46-unit development would have 43,606 square feet of residential space, for typical units measuring 947 square feet. A 3,358-square-foot community facility would fill the ground floor, followed by seven to 10 apartments on each of the upper stories. Residents would also have access to a few amenities on the first floor, like a fitness room, laundry, and bike storage.
Harlem-based Body Lawson Associates will design the building.
Bronx Pro Group purchased the 9,500-square-foot plot from the church in December for $850,000, paying just $17 for each square foot of their planned building
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Dilapidated in condition of fire destroyed, structure must move before new building come in.
Poor little church no one loves it anymore.