NEW YORK | 360 Schermerhorn St | FT | FLOORS

[NYguy]

https://commercialobserver.com/2026/08/t...lyn-residential-360-schermerhorn-street/

Brooklyn Developers to Acquire Church Site in Downtown Brooklyn for Resi Project





BY AMANDA SCHIAVO
AUGUST 12, 2026

Tankhouse and Lonicera Partners — a pair of Brooklyn-based developers — are in contract to acquire a church property in Downtown Brooklyn and build a new residential building on the site.

The developers are set to buy the development site at 360 Schermerhorn Street on the border of Boerum Hill for $28.3 million from the First Baptist Church in Pierrepont Street, a petition filed Tuesday in Kings County Supreme Court shows.

[ChiND]

With all of the vile garbage in DT Brooklyn, it would be quite sad for this beautiful structure to be razed.

[Busy Bee]

I'm usually one that finds the loss of historic churches to be pretty depressing, and as much as I wish they could be saved or repurposed in some way, recognizes that that's usually a very uphill battle. Sometimes a poorly maintained single purpose structure, with inadequate funding to perform major structure repairs by the struggling group that owns it, just finds itself at the end of the road. The intersection of sentiment and economics can be pretty unforgiving.

That said, on the loss meter I would have to place this lower than many I've seen. It is of course impressive in its own way and an obviously charming piece of old Brooklyn, but in my opinion lacks all the ingredients that make a real treasure of a religious building. One that did possess that was the now demolished Church of the Redeemer that stood at the corner of Fourth and Pacific was a gut punch, but the owners were in a similar situation and I understand why it met its fate.

Like I usually say, it would be nice to salvage at much of the quality building materials here and possibly incorporate them into the new high-density development. But it's unlikely they will even tip their hat to this church, let alone act as a benevolent caretaker of neighborhood character by whimsically and delicately designing the new structure. An unfortunate reality. The best we can hope for a is a good piece of design on this corner that speaks for itself and isn't a net negative to the aesthetics of the location.

[Crawford]

There are so many empty churches in urban America. We should save the gems, but cannot save them all. This should yield a large apartment building in a high-density district, which is much more of a social benefit. And Tankhouse delivers good architecture.

[NYguy]

https://www.pincusco.com/tankhouse-lonic...8-25m-for-dev-site-in-downtown-brooklyn/

Tankhouse, Lonicera contract to pay $28.25M for dev site in Downtown Brooklyn




August 12, 2026

[BK1985]

the odds are likely that they will retain SO–IL again.

[NYguy]

https://www.brownstoner.com/real-estate-...360-schermerhorn-street-sale-demolition/

Tankhouse to Raze Historic Boerum Hill Church After $28.25 Million Purchase
Apartments are likely to replace the architecturally notable Schermerhorn Street church, which was damaged in a 2010 fire.









by Anna Bradley-Smith
08/13/2026

The days are numbered for an impressive Romanesque Revival church that has commanded the corner of Schermerhorn Street and 3rd Avenue in Boerum Hill since the late 1800s. Brooklyn developer Tankhouse is in contract to buy the site for $28.25 million and plans to tear down the fire-damaged structure, court documents show.

This week, the court approved the sale of Next Step Community Church (formerly First Baptist Church) at 360 Schermerhorn Street. Tankhouse founders Sam Alison-Mayne and Sebastian Mendez, through 360SSP LLC, entered a contract to buy the 1890s Romanesque Revival building in August last year. (The state attorney general or the court is required by law to approve any disposition of church or nonprofit assets.)

The pair plan to raze the structure, which was damaged in a 2010 fire, court documents show. It’s unclear what Tankhouse intends for the site, but given its location in an area that has been dramatically transformed by glassy apartment towers, luxury condos or rentals are likely.

Tankhouse is working with Lonicera Partners on the project and plans apartments, according to the Commercial Observer. Just across the street is Alloy Development’s massive block-long development known as Alloy Block (formerly 80 Flatbush) whose two skyscrapers aroused intense opposition from locals who said it was inappropriate for Boerum Hill’s historic row house blocks.

The 2010 fire caused structural damage to the church’s entry vestibule of the main sanctuary, which would need demolition, as well as smoke and soot damage to the main sanctuary, the court documents say. A Mancini Duffy Architects report commissioned by the church says the cost to repair the historic structure would be upwards of $33.986 million, which the church says is an “insurmountable hardship for current ownership” in its petition to sell.

The petition says the church “made the difficult decision” to sell the building in order to fund the purchase of a new location. It would also use proceeds from the sale to set up an endowment fund to continue its work in the community, and fund church expenses.

The First Baptist Church has a long history in Brooklyn as the oldest Baptist church in the borough, founded as the First Baptist Church of Brooklyn in 1823. Before settling on the site at 360 Schermerhorn Street, the congregation had lost two prior buildings to fires.

Designed by Weary & Kramer, the imposing corner church was constructed in 1893-94 and rebuilt after a 1917 fire. The sizable complex has a bold, simple design, with little ornamentation, and is clad in rusticated brick, brownstone, and terra-cotta. It has “impressive gabled pavilions and is anchored by three corner towers,” as laid out in its 1995 National Register of Historic Places registration form.

The church sits at the intersection of three neighborhoods — Boerum Hill, Fort Greene, and Downtown Brooklyn — that have seen dramatic change over the past decade. In the latter two, especially, fistfuls of tall glittering towers, including Brooklyn’s first supertall and a 54-story apartment tower on Schermerhorn Street, have replaced low-slung storefronts and historic row houses.

[Busy Bee]

Do we know what year it lost its cupola?

[mrnyc]

so they are just going to err, tank it?

no talk of facade saves?