There, he plans to create 21 apartments and a co-working and event space in the church building and adjacent three-story convent.

It is the latest example of an adaptive-reuse of a vacant church – of which many more will be coming because of the Catholic Diocese's plans to downsize by closing parishes. 

Through his Rugo Holdings, Mfizi wants to renovate the 17,380-square-foot church and the 7,350-square-foot convent in a way that "will blend residential spaces with community amenities, preserving the property's heritage while contributing to the local economy," according to his application to the city for a reuse permit, which will be reviewed by the Buffalo Planning Board on Sept. 9.

The property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In July, Erie County allocated $250,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds to Mfizi's project.

"The mixed-use designation promotes a vibrant sustainable neighborhood, integrating diverse functions and serving broader community use," Mfizi wrote. "The adaptive reuse of this historic church will reactivate a long-vacant eyesore, providing predominantly residential use in a residential neighborhood."

Plans by CJS Architects call for 10 one-bedroom apartments in the church basement, with another two behind the altar on the main level. All but two of those apartments will be 439 to 463 square feet in size, with two larger ones of 855 and 869 square feet in the basement. The rest of the first floor – totaling 6,045 square feet in the nave and altar section – would be used for co-working and event space.

Meanwhile, the convent would get nine apartments – two in the basement, alongside tenant storage; two on the first floor, with laundry and mail rooms; three on the second floor; and two on the attic level. The mix would include one 424-square-foot studio in the attic, six one-bedroom units ranging from 408 to 551 square feet in size, and two two-bedroom apartments of 702 and 712 square feet on the first and second floors, respectively.

Closed and abandoned since 2008, the church building was constructed in 1913 for the Sacred Heart congregation, after the Larkin Soap Co. bought the original church in 1912 for $135,000. The congregation had started in the Larkinville neighborhood in 1876. It remained in the new building, with a capacity for 550 people, and added an auditorium, school and rectory, but the Diocese closed the parish and sold the complex.
 
The buyer, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, had a hard time maintaining the complex, which also suffered damage from a propane explosion at a warehouse on North Division Street in 1983. It eventually sold the complex in 1988 to Rev. Ronald P. Kirk's Witness Cathedral of Faith Church of God in Christ, which relocated 20 years later and abandoned the church in 2008.

Written by Johnathan Epstein at the Buffalo News.