St. Mark’s Church Looks to Air Rights Real Estate to Preserve Future

For more than two centuries, St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery has survived war, fire, feisty poets and the changing fortunes of New York City. Now, church leaders hope an invisible real estate asset—the empty space of air rights above the church—will help secure its future.

The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission unanimously approved a key preservation plan on July 21, moving St. Mark’s Church one step closer to selling a portion of its unused air rights to a planned residential development at 50–64 Third Avenue.

According to the commission, it is the first transfer of development rights (TDR) application for a faith-based organization approved under the city’s new zoning regulations.

If completed, the transaction would fund more than a decade of preservation work, allowing the church to focus more of its resources on its mission rather than the costs of maintaining its historic buildings.

“We were approached by the developer,” Rev. Anne Marie Witchger said in an interview with Our Town Downtown. “We were not actively marketing our air rights.”

For years, St. Mark’s had little reason to consider selling them. Under the city’s previous zoning rules, landmarked buildings generally could transfer unused development rights only to adjacent properties, meaning new construction would have had an immediate impact on the church’s surroundings.

That changed after New York City’s City of Yes for Housing Opportunity zoning reforms expanded where landmark owners can transfer unused development rights, allowing transfers to a broader group of nearby sites.

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“When the developer approached us,” Witchger said, “we hadn’t really considered what those zoning changes meant for us.”

The conversation ultimately led church leaders to pursue a transaction they believe could help secure both the future of the historic building and the church’s mission.

Founded in 1799, St. Mark’s today serves not only as a place of worship but also as a community hub. The church hosts four arts nonprofits, including the famed Poetry Project at St. Mark’s, a preservation organization, after-school programs, community meetings, 12-step groups, a welcome center for migrants and asylum seekers, and a compassion hub that distributes food and other services to neighbors. Its churchyard remains open to the public seven days a week.

Maintaining that mission has become increasingly expensive. “As a landmarked institution, the responsibility for maintaining the building falls completely on us,” Witchger said. “We would really prefer to direct our resources toward our mission and our programs.”

She said many historic churches face the same dilemma. “There are so many churches in New York that are really crushed by the responsibility of maintaining historic buildings,” she said. “They end up putting all of their resources into caring for the building, and that comes at the cost of living out their mission.”

The approval paves the way for approximately $5 million in preservation work over more than a decade. Planned repairs include replacing slate roofs, restoring stained-glass windows, repairing masonry, refinishing the cast-iron portico and restoring the historic iron fence surrounding the church.

Jenny Gwin, director of historic preservation at Beyer Blinder Belle, which prepared the church’s conditions assessment, told commissioners the landmark is already in “a state of sound repair” thanks to decades of careful stewardship.

”The building is already in a condition of good repair,” Gwin said during the public hearing. “There are some areas that we want to make sure they address in order to arrest some water infiltration.”

The initial phase of work will focus on preventing water intrusion, identified as the greatest long-term threat to the building, while additional restoration will continue in phases over the coming decade.

Commissioners unanimously praised both the proposal and the church’s stewardship. Vice Chair Angie Master called it “a wonderful first TDR application for a faith-based organization,” while Commissioner Michael Goldblum described the submission as “the nicest set of drawings and the nicest kind of way to organize the proposal,” suggesting it could serve as a model for future applications.

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Commissioner Mark Ginsberg also praised the church’s extensive community programming and suggested applying a reflective coating to portions of the flat roof to reduce heat absorption and extend the roof’s lifespan.

The proposal also drew support from preservation professional Simeon Bankoff, who lived in the church rectory for 21 years. “It’s wonderful to see these issues finally being addressed and, more importantly, that a dedicated funding source is being established for continued maintenance, which has been a perennial challenge at St. Mark’s Church for as long as I’ve known it,” Bankoff told commissioners.

The church expects to transfer between 25,000 and 30,000 square feet of development rights—roughly one-fifth of the unused development rights associated with the property. That decision was deliberate. “Once you sell it, you don’t get it back,” Witchger said.

She described the development rights as the only significant asset the church can realistically monetize to support its long-term preservation. “You can’t put a price tag on a historic building,” she said. “This is the only asset we have that we can monetize.”

Unlike some large institutions, St. Mark’s does not have a large endowment to draw on when major repairs arise. “We’ve done incredible things over generations with very little resources,” Witchger said. “This allows us to breathe a little easier for the future and continue focusing on serving the community.”

John Beene, a lawyer representing the church, said the Landmarks Preservation Commission approval marks only one step in a lengthy legal process.

Before the transaction can close, the sale must receive approval from the New York Supreme Court. The application must then proceed through the City Planning Commission’s certification process. As part of that process, the applicant must submit a report from the Landmarks Preservation Commission confirming the existence of a continuing maintenance program.

Beene said he expects the City Planning Commission’s review to take place this fall, likely around October, with the transaction potentially closing before the end of the year.

As part of the agreement, St. Mark’s will record a restrictive declaration enforceable by the Landmarks Preservation Commission. The agreement requires the church to complete an initial phase of restoration work within two years of the transaction closing and establishes a long-term maintenance program with periodic inspections to help preserve the landmark for decades to come.

Witchger said the agreement will help ensure the church can continue serving the neighborhood while caring for its historic home. ”A strong and healthy St. Mark’s contributes to a strong and healthy neighborhood,” she said.