A real estate developer flipped the Sacred Heart Church for over $2M. Here are the plans.
FALL RIVER — Local real estate company Roll the Dice LLC did just that and came up with aces when they flipped the former Sacred Heart Church at 160 Linden St. for $2.05 million, after purchasing the property from the Diocese of Fall River for $499,000 last September.
Roll the Dice LLC owners are listed in the state corporation database as Thomas Gamache and Michael Amaral.
City records indicate the assessed value of the Linden Street property is $572,800.
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Gamache and Amaral had secured approval from the Fall River Zoning Board of Review to convert the former church to 46 units of market-rate housing, and had a special permit to reduce the required number of parking spaces.
They recently sold the building to Sacred Heart Lofts LLC, whose principals are listed as Charles C. Hajjar of Milton and seven other individuals with addresses from Chicago and San Jose, California. The Fall River Registry of Deeds indicates the sale was finalized on Feb. 1.
Hajjar recently completed a housing project at another former Fall River diocese property, the former Notre Dame de Lourdes School near Lafayette Park, into a 48-unit market-rate apartment complex.
The $7.4 million project is called The Lofts at Lafayette and is located in the Flint neighborhood.
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On Jan. 25, the city’s Tax Increment Financing Board approved Hajjar’s request for a five-year Tax Increment Exemption for the Sacred Heart Church project.
During the TIFF Board meeting, Ken Fiola, executive vice president of the Bristol County Economic Development Consultants, representing Hajjar, indicated that the Sacred Heart Church conversion to market-rate housing is a $10 million investment.
Fiola said the developer plans to begin construction later this spring with a completion date in 2025, with units renting for approximately $2,000 to $2,800 a month.
According to city records, Amaral, of Roll the Dice LLC, was granted approval of the project’s site plan review, with a condition of revising the plan before the owner can receive a building permit to begin construction.
Sacred Heart Church was built in 1883. The Diocese of Fall River closed it in November 2014 due to declining attendance and the rising cost of maintenance.
This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Old Fall River church sells for over $2M; housing conversion planned
