Newtonville Church Approved For Condo Conversion: Report

NEWTON, MA — A historic Newtonville church built in 1893 is set to become housing after city officials approved plans to convert the property into condominiums, according toa report from Boston.com.

The project at 19 Highland Ave. will convert the former Church of the Open Word into six condominium units and add a separate five-story building with 26 more condos on the site.

The former church was once affiliated with the Swedenborgian Church of North America before it closed in 2020. In 2021, the New Art Center explored buying the property and making it its new headquarters. The nonprofit had hoped to create a community arts hub and secured city preservation funding to study restoration and reuse, however it did not come to fruition. Reading-based developer Habitech Communities later bought the property in 2024 for $4 million.

Under the approved proposal, Habitech plans to preserve and convert the church sanctuary into residential units while demolishing the adjacent parish house to make way for the larger condo building.

Read more at Boston.com

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