Developer closes on St. Boniface, saving church from demolition

After many months of uncertainty, the future of the old St. Boniface Church in the East Village neighborhood is finally secure. Community stakeholders went down to the wire today, but developer Mike Skoulsky of Stas Development did close on the Henry Schlacks-designed church this evening. The news was announced by Noble Square resident and community activist Bob Zwolinski on Facebook Friday evening.

While there was a plan in place to redevelop the church, things became more complicated in July when another developer stepped in and purchased St. Boniface’s debt. It was reported earlier this week by DNAinfo that the church, which has sat vacant since the early 1990s, would likely be demolished if the sale to Stas Development was not closed by today. However, with the deal closed, Stas Development has taken a major step towards renovating the church and building a new structure next door for the Chicago Academy of Music.

On a walkthrough of the church last month, Skoulsky told us that the plan was to renovate the church into 15 for-sale condominiums, while building another 24 on the currently vacant east lot. The new building that will house the Chicago Academy of Music will be built on the Noble Street side. Renderings and the elevations for for the new development have still yet to be publicly revealed, but now that the deal on St. Boniface is done, we can expect to see something from Stas Development in the coming weeks.

• A walkthrough of the long vacant St. Boniface Church [Curbed Chicago]
• Noble Square’s St. Boniface Church Could be Saved, but Clock is Ticking [Curbed Chicago]
• St. Boniface Church Could Become Music School Under New Proposal [Curbed Chicago]