A Concord developer has secured the final approval he needs to convert the former Sacred Heart Church into high-end condominiums.
The city’s planning board Wednesday night okayed Jon Chorlian’s project, which will be called “Bienvenue.” His final plans reflected a compromise with residents on nearby Federal Street, who had raised concern about a privacy fence separating their neighborhood and the new condos.
“I’ve been doing this long enough to realize that even a good project is still scary for people who live close to it,” Chorlian said Wednesday to start his presentation. “I always try to start with plans that anticipate what the reasonable concerns and considerations to those people in the neighborhood would be, but there’s no substitute for those conversations. I think what you’ll see before you shortly reflects some real improvements.”
Currently, a chain-link fence divides the church parking lot with a patch of grass next to Federal Street. None of the properties on the narrow street have yards, so children have long played on that lawn. Chorlian’s first plans called for a solid fence against the curb, erecting a barrier between that space and the nearby neighborhood. Homeowners worried it would block off needed green space and compromises safety on a narrow street.
Through conversations with neighbors, that design changed. On Wednesday night, Chorlian agreed to remove an entire section of the fence, creating a green opening between Federal Street and the condo development. Residents told the planning board they were happy with that change.
“Mr. Chorlian has truly listened to us, and we do appreciate that,” resident Laura Culp said. “We are in full support of the condos.”
Chorlian did put an asterisk on that concession, however. Should foot traffic become a problem through the parking lot, he suggested the opening in the fence might need to be closed.
Before Wednesday’s meeting, Andrea Garneau had circulated a petition among her neighbors on Federal Street. While she and others said they were happy with Chorlian’s latest plan, she outlined her concerns again for the record. If the fence is ever built there, she said it could block the line of sight for drivers on the narrow street or inhibit emergency vehicles.
“I don’t want to see it happen that the fence gets extended at some point in the future,” Garneau said.
Beset by priest shortages and financial challenges, three Catholic parishes – Sacred Heart Church, St. Peter’s Church and St. John the Evangelist Church – merged into Christ the King Parish in 2011. The new parish eventually decided to cut costs by consolidating at St. John the Evangelist and selling the other two churches.
Earlier this year, Chorlian signed a purchase-and-sales agreement for Sacred Heart Church on Pleasant Street; the sale price is not yet public. The outside will remain virtually the same, but the inside will become 10 residential condos – three single-story units and seven two-story units. They will all have three bedrooms, and will range between 1,750 and 2,000 square feet. In February, Chorlian told the Monitor the going rate was $300,000 to $400,000 each.
Part of the parking lot is leased to the nearby federal court, and that arrangement will continue. But Chorlian said he is glad to save the church building itself.
“Buildings like this only get saved when there is a viable reuse,” he said. “But for that, other things happen. Like in the near proximity of two federal buildings without any parking, it’s not inconceivable that in a different scenario this thing becomes a parking lot – a tragedy. I’m happy to bring a use to you that doesn’t involve that.”
At Wednesday’s meeting, the planning board also considered another church, this one new. Granite State Baptist Church received the necessary approvals to renovate an industrial building at 236 Sheep Davis Road into a place of worship.
In November 2013, the small Baptist congregation began renting space at the Grappone Conference Center. In December 2015, the group purchased the building at Sheep Davis Road, once home to Walker Tree Experts and then a golf cart repair shop. The sale price was $326,000, according to the city’s assessing database.
The Rev. Peter Chamberland told the Monitor last year he had considered buying one of the local Catholic churches for sale, but the price was too steep. (In early 2014, Christ the King Parish listed St. Peter’s Church on North State Street and Sacred Heart Church for sale at $1.4 million and $2.9 million, respectively. St. Peter’s Church is still on the market.)
The plans for the former industrial building include a steeple for the top for, Chamberlain said, “the traditional New England look.”
The planning board’s next meeting will be July 20 at 7 p.m. in council chambers.
(Megan Doyle can be reached at 369-3321, mdoyle@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @megan_e_doyle.)