Century-Old Hell’s Kitchen Church Residence, Parking Lot Make Way for Apartment Developments

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Hell’s Kitchen’s revolving real estate door turns again, as the neighborhood prepares for two new housing developments being built in the West 50s. 

Already in the process of being demolished, the 113-year-old Centro Maria building at 539 W54th Street (between 10/11th Ave) — formerly the Catholic St. Ambrose’s parish and most recently home to one of Manhattan’s last remaining women’s residences — is set to become a 21-floor, 71 unit condominium building. According to The Real Deal, the Excel Development Group filed plans to build a 104,000 square foot structure at the site of the former church residence, which was known for providing affordable housing for as little as $215 a week to students, interns and frequently, recovering domestic violence survivors for 56 years before its closure in 2021, reported by Patch. 

The building, owned by Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese, was purchased by Excel for $25 million in 2022 — a sale that some former Centro Maria residents decried as a strategy to raise funds for the Catholic Church’s prolific sexual abuse lawsuit legal fees as a result of the Child Victims Act of 2019. Former Centro Maria resident Natasha Lewis, an attorney and women’s rights organizer who lived in the home during a 2010 UN internship, told THE CITY: “To me, the symbolism of closing down a place that is for women and girls in need, that is run by women who’ve dedicated their lives to helping other women and girls, in order to pay the legal fees of men who have abused children, and abused women, is despicable.” Although Hell’s Kitchen’s Centro Maria location could not be saved, the residence has since popped up in the Spuyten Duyvil neighborhood of Bronx, still marketed as student and intern-friendly housing. W42ST has reached out to the Archdiocese for further comment on the sale and will update this article if we hear back. 

Just two blocks south of Centro Maria, another large-scale condominium is in the works at 354 W52nd Street (between 8/9th Ave). Developers Cadence Property Group — the firm behind Hell’s Kitchen’s Post-Office-turned-luxury apartment complex The Sorting House and the Turnstyle Underground Market at Columbus Circle — purchased the lot for $15.5 million, according to Crain’s New York Business. The firm is also in negotiations to acquire the adjacent lot at 352 W52nd Street as part of the 32-unit, $60 million project. The building, which is expected to be completed in 2025, will be composed of one-, two- and three-bedroom units between 950 and 3,000 square feet and will be priced from $1.4 million, Cadence president Howard Glatzer told Crain’s. 

Controversy has surrounded this area since a building at 350 W52nd St was allowed to deteriorate until it collapsed in May 2019 — causing the temporary closure of Therapy Bar at 348 W52nd St and the permanent closure of Stile’s Farmers Market that occupied the vacant plot at 354 W52nd St. At the time, then Council Member Corey Johnson said: “Therapy Bar and Stile’s Farmers Market in Hell’s Kitchen were issued vacate orders by the NYC Department of Buildings because of structural instability of the neighboring building at 350 W52nd Street. According to the DOB, its structural engineers have determined that the danger 350 W52nd Street presents to the adjoining properties is imminent. It is shameful that the owner of 350 W52nd Street has allowed that building to deteriorate over the course of many years.”

Hell’s Kitchen has experienced a dearth of affordable housing in recent years, with advocates calling for additional construction and fewer zoning barriers to completing new buildings. In October, Manhattan Community Board 4 (MCB4) released an expansive housing proposal, promising over 14,000 new affordable housing units in the neighborhood if implemented by city government. W42ST reached out to the team at Cadence to inquire whether any of the W52nd Street project’s units would be reserved for affordable housing and will update if we hear back. A call to the number listed for the Excel Property Group was not answered.

Until construction begins at 354 W52nd Street, it will still remain an active parking lot — one that until recently was run by neighborhood icon Winston Churchill Martinez. Winston recently retired after 51 years of attending to the West Side lot. Park a car in honor of Winston before the team breaks ground!