Project Description:

History
The historic Christian Science Church was constructed in 1940. It served as the home for the First Church of Christ in the village of Newtonville in Newton, Massachusetts. Designed by Densmore, LeClear and Robbins architects in the Colonial Revival style, the structure served its initial purpose until it was sold in 2004.^[1]

(Re)Developer
The developer that purchased the building and initiated its conversion was World Realty + Development of Newton. The architect that performed the adaptive reuse was Jai Singh Khalsa.

Khalsa specializes in the design of affordable housing and government projects and has performed numerous adaptive reuse projects since founding the firm in 1980.

Outcome
The religious structure has been given new life as 11 condominium homes. The units feature 16-foot ceilings with lofts up to 25-feet high, with one unit that includes a two-story library in the steeple.^[2] The redevelopment was also the first project in Newton under the Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance. The ordinance, adopted in 2003, required that any new residential development needed 15% of the units set as affordable in perpetuity.^[3]