Closed parishes net $12m for archdiocese

Four buyers have agreed to pay more than $12 million to the cash-strapped Archdiocese of Boston for closed parish properties in the Boston area, which are being converted into residential property, church officials said yesterday.

In an attempt to stabilize the archdiocese's finances, which were severely affected by the clergy sexual abuse scandal, archdiocesan officials have closed 62 parishes since summer of 2004, cut 19 percent of its administrative staff since 2002, and are considering reducing pension benefits for priests.

Church officials have said the sales proceeds of the closed parishes would not be used to pay settlements to abuse victims. They allow, however, that donations, which typically cover archdiocesan operations, fell off after the scandal broke.

Geoffrey Richon, a Gloucester developer, confirmed yesterday that he had paid more than $600,000 for the former Sacred Heart parish property in the city's Lanesville section, which will be converted into single-family homes.

Richon, a 62-year-old Lanesville resident, said he plans to convert the 2,400-square-foot main church building, which was built in the late 1800s, into a two-story home with an in-law apartment for a Lanesville couple with two small children. Another local woman, he said, has agreed to buy the church hall from him and convert it herself into a residence.

Richon said he had not found a buyer for the church's small, two-story rectory, which he plans to convert into residences and then sell. While calling the closing of the popular local church unfortunate, Richon said he was trying to minimize the transition on the neighborhood.

''They had a good group of people and a wonderful priest," said Richon, who has been involved in numerous Cape Ann construction and renovation projects, including the conversion of the former Rockport High School building into elderly housing. ''What I am proposing is the least invasive alternative and one most compatible with the neighborhood."

In Arlington, the former St. Gerome parish church and rectory were sold for $1.8 million to G. K. Development of Sherborn, according to a statement from the archdiocese detailing the four real estate closings as well as a church official familiar with the transactions.

G. K. Development officials could not be reached for comment on the sale yesterday. The Globe has reported, however, that the developer recently received permission from the Arlington Historical Society to raze the main church building, after officials decided that it could not be converted into housing in a manner that preserved its historic character.

In Cambridge, the largest of the church properties, the 82,500-square-foot Blessed Sacrament campus in the city's Cambridgeport section, was sold for $5.5 million to a developer and state Republican operative, Paul Ognibene. A spokesman for Ognibene said recently that the developer plans a mixed development of approximately 21 rental units and condominiums.

In Winchester, a preschool purchased the former Immaculate Conception Parish site for $4.25 million, according to the press release and the church official.