The Marc (former Our Lady of Victories Church) | 25-29 Isabella Street | Bay Villiage

[JeffDowntown]

New Boston Ventures has purchased Our Lady of Victories Church and rectory at 25-29 Isabella St. in Bay Village. They plan to convert the property into a residential development, called The Marc.

New Boston Ventures is the group behind The Lucas, in the South End (former Holy Trinity Church).

Sale just closed; no plans have been filed yet.

http://www.bostonherald.com/busines...er_acquires_former_bay_village_church_rectory

http://newbostonventures.com/index.php/work/

 

[393b40]

Re: The Marc 25-29 Isabella Street; Our Lady of Victories Church

Any idea the purchase includes the parking lot that fronts Arlington and is behind the church?

 

[JohnAKeith]

Re: The Marc 25-29 Isabella Street; Our Lady of Victories Church

It does not. Those 2 parcels are still recorded as owned by the Sawyer family.

 

[393b40]

Re: The Marc 25-29 Isabella Street; Our Lady of Victories Church

That's a shame. I wonder what they're holding out for.

 

[Bergeron37]

Re: The Marc 25-29 Isabella Street; Our Lady of Victories Church

Did they buy the church and the rectory building? So they control that whole corner of Isabella and Piedmont St, roughly 17K SF? Someone correct me if I am wrong. The deed on record says roughly 7,355 square feet of land

edit: I did a little more digging and it appears the church was not actually included in this sale but New Boston was given the opportunity to match any offer that the church receives. It looks like only the rectory was included in the $11.4M

 

[JeffDowntown]

Re: The Marc 25-29 Isabella Street; Our Lady of Victories Church

Did they buy the church and the rectory building? So they control that whole corner of Isabella and Piedmont St, roughly 17K SF? Someone correct me if I am wrong. The deed on record says roughly 7,355 square feet of land

edit: I did a little more digging and it appears the church was not actually included in this sale but New Boston was given the opportunity to match any offer that the church receives. It looks like only the rectory was included in the $11.4M

The Marc is apparently only the rectory building, 27-29 Isabella Street. Although there are indications in the article that they want the church also.

I wonder if they are trying to work out a deal for the parking lot parcels on Arlington (Sawyer family parcels that back up on the church)? Now that would be an awesome combination of parcels.

 

[BeeLine]

Re: The Marc 25-29 Isabella Street; Our Lady of Victories Church

https://flic.kr/p/JMs7oR

https://flic.kr/p/25Fpxku

https://flic.kr/p/JMs6Cc

https://flic.kr/p/JMs8Av

 

[Boston02124]

Re: The Marc 25-29 Isabella Street; Our Lady of Victories Church

Beautiful building

 

[BeeLine]

Re: The Marc 25-29 Isabella Street; Our Lady of Victories Church

https://flic.kr/p/Tc3AQb

https://flic.kr/p/2fkgrji

https://flic.kr/p/Tc3AvU

 

[BeeLine]

Mod we can mark this one completed. People have already moved in.

https://flic.kr/p/S6U5oc

https://flic.kr/p/2eEE9PW

https://flic.kr/p/S6U5QK

 

[stellarfun]

Thank you for documenting this Beeline. This preservation came out really nice.

 

[stick n move]

This is phenominal


https://www.bldup.com/posts/the-marc-in-bay-village-now-complete

 

[mssrro]

Walked by here this evening, looks like the church itself is now under redevelopment:

 

[JeffDowntown]

They do not appear to care much about the architectural detail inside the church

 

[HenryAlan]

They do not appear to care much about the architectural detail inside the church

Probably a gut rehab. The inside will look like your typical luxury condos, perhaps with better windows. Nobody wants to live inside an actual sanctuary, so all that is useful for repurposing this building is the shell.

 

[mssrro]

Basically 136 Shawmut redux.

 

[RandomWalk]

I’m reminded of the bit in the Brady Bunch Movie where Mike Brady has a single design he offers for every commission.

 

[HarvardP]

Maybe it's the heathen in me, but I think it'd be rad to live in a deconsecrated church. My grandparents are rolling in their graves, but yeah, I'd do it.

 

[Java King]

I like the project. Seeing this rendering, I have two questions:

What's the story behind this parking lot? Why has it never been developed?

What happened to the restaurant space formerly occupied by Smith and Wolensky? That was a very nice space within the Castle.

 

[king_vibe]

I like the project. Seeing this rendering, I have two questions:

What's the story behind this parking lot? Why has it never been developed?

What happened to the restaurant space formerly occupied by Smith and Wolensky? That was a very nice space within the Castle.

View attachment 38705
View attachment 38704

The perverse and broken tax code encourages leech owners to keep land like this vacant because without developing the land, their tax bill is about a nickel per year. Then you pay a guy three bucks a day to serve as a parking lot attendant and suddenly you have a machine that prints that money. And why would a developer pay a premium for land in an historic district with a permissible FAR of 4 and a 65’ height limit? It’s just buying your way into a decade-long NIMBY and zoning fight.