11-Story Tower Could Rise Over Tompkins Square Park After $35M Sale

EAST VILLAGE, NY— A developer known for luxury residential towers agreed to buy the former St. Brigid School overlooking Tompkins Square Park in Manhattan’s East Village for $35 million, according to court filings.

Quinlan Development Group signed a contract last month to acquire the shuttered school at 185 E. Seventh St., between Avenue A and Avenue B, according to reporting by Crain's.

The contract includes 26,000 square feet of development rights from nearby church properties and a parking lot.

The Archdiocese of New York submitted the filings Monday to the state Supreme Court in Manhattan as part of the process required to obtain approval for the sale of church property.

The 19,600-square-foot school, built in 1956, could make way for an 11-story residential tower, according to marketing materials from brokerage Avison Young.

The proposed building would rank among the tallest structures overlooking Tompkins Square Park, where most surrounding buildings stand about five stories tall.

Quinlan could build up to 71,100 square feet of market-rate housing or 94,300 square feet if it includes income-restricted affordable apartments. The contract requires the developer to pay cash for the property.

The proposed sale comes days after the archdiocese announced an $800 million settlement with about 1,300 people who accused Catholic clergy members of sexual abuse.

The agreement covers claims involving parishes in Manhattan, the Bronx, Staten Island and seven counties outside New York City.

The archdiocese has sold other properties to help finance the settlement, including its longtime headquarters at 1011 First Ave. in Midtown Manhattan, which it sold last year for $103 million.

The buyer, Vanbarton Group, plans to convert the property into 420 apartments.

St. Brigid School served students from its opening in 1956 until it closed in 2019.

In 2023, the City reopened the two-story, yellow-brick building as a processing center for migrants seeking asylum. The center operated until 2025, and the archdiocese put the property on the market as a development site in April.

The deal does not include the nearby St. Brigid Church, a Gothic-style brownstone building dating to 1848 on Avenue Bat East Eighth Street, or the adjoining rectory, according to court records.

In 2023, Quinlan completed Parish House, a 17-story, 138-unit luxury rental building that replaced religious structures on the grounds of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church on Classon Avenue in Clinton Hill.

The firm also filed permits in July for a proposed 24-story, 147-unit rental tower on a former parking lot at 130 St. Felix St. in Fort Greene.