Brooklyn Developer Files Plans for 99 Apartments on Church-Owned Lot

A Brooklyn-based developer has filed plans to build a new apartment building on a church-owned lot in Brooklyn’s Prospect Lefferts Gardens neighborhood.

Charles Wurzberger, the president of Candor Capital, submitted an application to build a 12-story, 99-unit residential building at 331 Maple Street, according to a filing this week with the New York City Department of Buildings.

The land is owned by the Roman Catholic Church of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Blaise, according to PincusCo, which first reported the news. It’s unclear whether Candor intends to buy the property.

To make way for the new 97,877-square-foot project, the former St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Academy building at 335 Maple Street — now a parish center — will be demolished, PincusCo reported.

Spokespeople for Candor and J Frankl Architects, the architect listed on the project, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

If approved, Candor’s project at the property between Nostrand and New York avenues would also feature 24,418 square feet of community facility space, according to the filing.

Candor isn’t the only developer looking to turn church properties into housing.

In May, Rivington Company filed plans to convert the former church building at 53 Catherine Street in Lower Manhattan’s Two Bridges neighborhood into 38 housing units with 8,491 square feet of retail space on the ground floor, as Commercial Observer previously reported.

And last month, Fulcrum Properties submitted an application to renovate and restore St. Augustine Church at 290 Henry Street on the Lower East Side, as well as add an attached 21-story, 130-unit apartment building to the property, CO reported. 

Isabelle Durso can be reached at idurso@commercialobserver.com.