NYC Catholic diocese closes churches and seeks to sell for millions

USA TODAY
By Rick Hampson
Saint Thomas Church
NEW YORK---Our Lady of Vilnius Church, built by families of immigrant Lithuanian longshoremen, started out a century ago as a beloved worship space. Now, it's a coveted real estate asset. In 2013, six years after the church was closed, it was sold for $13 million to one of the city's biggest developers. The following year, that company flipped it like a pancake to another developer for $18.4 million. A developer who paid $13.8 million in 2011 for St. Vincent de Paul Church in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn turned it into the Spire Lofts, a 40-unit apartment house. There are worries that real estate values might undercut gospel ones. [link]