Historic church in Bethlehem has new owner

A previous Unitarian Universalist Church in Bethlehem has been marketed for the second time in two years.

According to a news release from SVN/Imperial Realty, the church at 424 Middle St. was bought for $1.2 million to Xmas Town LLC. The congregation offered the 168-calendar year-previous creating to 424 Centre LLC in 2020 for $640,000.

Christmas Town LLC, which is a Delaware corporation, has obtained zoning acceptance to change the church to a residence and business, in accordance to the release.

A Morning Get in touch with story from September 2021 claimed 424 Middle prepared to make the church a non-public art gallery and places of work. Cindy Miller, a Real estate agent with SVN/Imperial who represented 424 Middle, mentioned her customer was selling simply because the metropolis would not grant zoning reduction for those assignments.

The sale to Xmas Town went by because its program was granted zoning aid as portion of the agreement of sale, Miller mentioned.

The church is in the city’s historic district and is shown with the metropolis as a historic structure. Built in 1854 by the congregants of the Wesley Methodist Episcopal Church, with additions designed through the yrs, it remained a Methodist church until 1995.

The congregation, now identified as Wesley United Methodist Church, moved to a building at 2540 Center St. that calendar year.

The constructing was sold to the Unitarian Universalist Church, which remained there for 25 years, right up until the sale was accepted by the congregation in fall 2020 just after the COVID pandemic influenced attendance and maintenance on the setting up was turning out to be much too pricey.

The Unitarian Universalist Church of the Lehigh Valley now worships at 1633 Elm St., Allentown.

Morning Contact reporter Evan Jones can be achieved at [email protected].