September 20, 2021 By Carol Britton Meyer
Atlantic Development is withdrawing from the purchase and sale agreement with Old Ship Church for the purchase of the Parish House, located at 107 Main St.
The development company had been working with OSC to repurpose the existing three-acre Parish House property to fund a new parish house to be built adjacent to the meetinghouse at 90 Main St. and to potentially allow the board of trustees to negotiate with the Hingham Affordable Housing Trust for the sale of a portion of the land for the expansion of the Lincoln School Apartments to provide more affordable senior housing in town.
An announcement to parishioners by the OSC Board of Trustees on Saturday, and confirmed by Parish House Leadership Team member Tom Willson with the Hingham Anchor, stated that the developer cited that following "detailed analysis, the options they had been evaluating for developing the Parish House property were not financially feasible for them. While the board is disappointed with this outcome, we feel that this decision was specific to Atlantic Development" and went on to explain next steps.
"We will be assessing other options for sale -- including revising the selling price and approaching the Town of Hingham, realtors, and other interested parties; updated costs for the repair, renovation, and maintenance of the current Parish House; and the schedule, cost, and design implications for building a new Parish House," Willson said.
Based on the information shared with the board by the Parish House Leadership Team, "we continue to believe that there is a productive path forward," the trustees stated.
Looking ahead, the trustees have asked the Leadership Team to explore and research these points and to report to the board with their assessments and recommendations.
"We're still moving ahead and exploring other options," Willson said.
Developer D.J. MacKinnon told the Hingham Anchor in response to an inquiry that he had "no comment" to make at this time.