House That! Old church in North Perth attracts interest from residential house hunters and developers

A majestic church for sale in North Perth is attracting plenty of interest from house hunters and developers. Real estate agent Tyrone Ha said several interested parties had inspected the church in the hopes of converting it into a residential property or apartments. With its soaring vaulted ceilings and its roomy nave, it would certainly make for a spacious open-plan home. Alternatively, with plenty of space across its two lots, which span 1212sqm of land, it could form part of a broader church conversion. But the house-hunters and developers have so far failed to meet the $3.5 million asking price for the property, which is close to Hyde Park. Ha said quite a few religious groups had also inspected the property, which suggests it may end up staying in church hands. Listed on the City of Vincent municipal inventory, though not the State Register, the building is in an area zoned for housing. The beautiful property was designed by architect John Hine in 1913, and is an example of Federation Romanesque architecture. A church group called Bethany Church Inc, which held services at the property until this year, bought the property from the Uniting Church in 1996 for $408,000. It’s now seeking a more-than $3m above that value. That’s a 757 per cent increase on its purchase price, which is a compound annual growth rate of 8.9 per cent. And that’s a bumper profit for a not-for-profit group.