City For Sale - Part II

While reviewing the City's in-rem listing - story here - for next week's tax foreclosure sale, St. Matthew's Church at 1066 East Ferry Street is topping the list - again. fixBuffalo readers may remember a series of posts about the last time this heritage property was sold - here's the archive - by the City, at the 2006 tax sale.

A truly amazing space that's ripe for the right person to pound into a creative live/workspace. The possibilities here seem endless.

St. Matthew's first opened in 1928. For seventy years - with the adjacent school, convent and priest's residence - St. Matthew's served a parish that declined by the decade. In 1998 the local Diocese split the property and sold the church building for $22,000 to a congregation that abandoned the premises six years later. As that congregation became delinquent with water bills and user fees, the City sold St. Matthew's for the staggering sum of $3500 (yes - three thousand five hundred!) in 2006. While the current owners attempted to sell the church on eBay a number of times during the past two years, deals collapsed.

If past experience is any guide for this year's auction - the next person or group willing to part with $3500 - with a cool plan in hand - will own one of the most amazing spaces currently available in the City.

click image to enlarge

Check back next week for the City's auction results and report about what's happening with St. Matthew's. Tomorrow, another heritage property, yet another church on the auction block - with some equally amazing buildings, parish hall, priest's residence and former convent included. Sort of amazing and staggering.

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