Salem Homeless Shelter Sale Falls Through

The Salem News reports that a Salem homeless shelter’s plans to purchase St. Mary’s church and convert it into 20 studio apartments have fallen through due to in unavailability in state funding.  This was welcome news to a group of Salem residents looking to buy the 1925 Margin Street building and create a Salem Community Arts Center for arts and performance, which would also provide event space for meetings, lectures and functions.

In the meantime, the 1925 church building on Margin Street will remain for sale, and shelter officials will work on a broader plan for where to develop housing on its campus in the future.  St. Mary’s church is on the market for $575,000.  In 2004, the Salem Mission paid $2 million for the St. Mary's property, which had been closed by the Archdiocese of Boston. The purchase included the church, the youth center and two small apartment buildings. At the time, the church was estimated to represent about $550,000 of that deal.  One possibility for housing is to put an addition above the Margin Street shelter, the former St. Mary's Youth Center.

Read the entire Salem News article.