Buy a fixer-upper church for $320K

If memory serves, it was once the fantasy of many a house-hunter to purchase an old, institutional building—such as a church—for a song, then renovate it into a single-family home with a loft-like feel and the ultimate open floor plan. Chances are there are still a few of those adaptive-reuse true believers around, and they might be interested just such a vintage fixer-upper in the MLK neighborhood, on the market for more than a song, but priced with renovation needs in mind.

Formerly the St. Johns Baptist Church, the one-story, wood-frame structure was built around 1940. Measuring 1,600 square feet, it has two bathrooms and three bedrooms—or at least rooms that could be used as such. (It also has the shell of the original sign outside, which offers endless art/decor/communication/installation/planter possibilities.) It has some wood and tile floors, as well as the vaulted, cross-beamed ceiling one would expect from a church, sort of the deal-sealer on this kind of thing.

The former church was partially redesigned and remodeled by a developer who left it unfinished, but it looks like the basic bones (and quite a few pews) are still there. The building is located at 1181 Greenway Avenue, and the adjacent property at 1183 Greenwood Avenue is for sale as well. The listing agent is Aaron Jistel at Applied Real Estate Technologies.