Boston Herald
August 27, 2002
The Archdiocese of Boston claims it would need to close schools and churches if it was to make good on settlements to victims of sexual abuse by clergy, but a Boston Herald investigation found nearly $160 million in church property the church no longer uses.
[The following table has been sorted by BishopAccountability.org in descending order of assessment value. View the Boston Herald table in its original order. A two-part article {1} {2} accompanied this table, as well as an editorial. The archdiocese of Boston published a reply to this analysis in the Pilot, its weekly newspaper. At the bottom of this page we have reproduced the map that appeared with the original Herald article.]
Property listings followed by assessed value:
| Boston-Brighton | 9-27 Lake St. | $25,784,000 |
| Boston | 60 O'Connell Way (Regina Cleri) | $10,959,000 |
| Cambridge | 170 Rindge Ave. (Our Lady of Pity church and school) | $7,487,300 |
| Cambridge | 122 Rindge Ave. (former St. John's school) | $6,720,400 |
| Waltham | 133 School St. (former convent) | $3,818,300 |
| Newton | 64-90 Crescent Ave. (former school and convent) | $3,671,000 |
| Watertown | 25 Chestnut St. (former school and convent) | $3,633,700 |
| Boston-Roslindale | 190 Cummings Hwy. (former St. Clare's high school) | $3,563,000 |
| Marblehead | Atlantic Ave. (former school used for CCD) | $3,549,000 |
| Belmont | 23 Oakley Rd. (former Our Lady of Mercy parish hall) | $3,508,000 |
| Newburyport | Former church/school property | $3,400,000 |
| Arlington | More recreational land | $2,945,400 |
| Newton | 8-28 Commonwealth Ave. (former St. Ignatius) | $2,848,100 |
| Newton | 1497-1505 Washington St. (former school and convent) | $2,656,300 |
| Brockton | 37 Erie Ave. (former St. Colman's school) | $2,567,530 |
| Winthrop | Lincoln St. (CCD etc. complex) | $2,550,000 |
| Boston-Hyde Park | 1286 Hyde Park Ave. (former Most Precious Blood school) | $2,517,000 |
| Waltham | 880 Trapelo Rd. (25 acres) | $2,500,000 |
| Natick | 45 Central St. (former St. Patrick's school) | $2,467,600 |
| Boston-Brighton | 2102-2121 Commonwealth Ave. (land only) | $2,467,000 |
| Waltham | 527 Main St. (former St. Joseph's school) | $2,376,900 |
| Quincy | 32 Phipps St. (former St. John's school and convent) | $2,228,770 |
| Brookline | 207 Freeman St. (former St. Aidan) | $2,222,900 |
| Weymouth | 1199 Commercial St. (former school and convent) | $2,154,100 |
| Salem | Federal St. (rented by city) | $1,980,000 |
| Cambridge | 80 Seventh St. (former Sacred Heart school) | $1,935,400 |
| Framingham | 25 Clinton St. (former St. Stephen's school) | $1,689,500 |
| Boston-Dorchester | 750 Dorchester Ave. (former central laundry) | $1,669,000 |
| Belmont | 160 Lexington St. (former St. Luke’s school) | $1,597,000 |
| Franklin | 201 Main St. (Benjamin Franklin charter, 5.29 acres) | $1,524,000 |
| Lowell | Dracut St. (3-story apartment building) | $1,486,500 |
| Woburn | 8 Summer St. (former St. Charles convent) | $1,407,816 |
| Swampscott | Former school, now CCD | $1,330,000 |
| Newton | 24 Prospect Pl. (former convent) | $1,306,600 |
| Natick | 5 Wilson St. (former convent) | $1,227,000 |
| Milton | Our Lady's Hall (Regina Cleri) | $1,210,400 |
| Somerville | Land used as athletic fields | $1,198,500 |
| Newton | 1522 Washington St. (former rectory/schoolhouse) | $1,198,400 |
| Bridgewater | 123 Center St. (St. Thomas Aquinas parish center) | $1,155,700 |
| Brookline | 918 W. Roxbury Pkwy. (Infant Jesus church) | $1,086,300 |
| Boston-Jamaica Plain | Woodman St. (former St. Thomas school) | $1,033,500 |
| Swampscott | Humphrey St. (CCD and nursery school) | $902,000 |
| Hingham | Crestwood and Woodlock Rds. (4 parcels) | $836,000 |
| Boston-Roxbury | Circuit St. (former St. Joseph parish) | $828,700 |
| Boston | 516 Columbia Rd. | $787,100 |
| Boston-South Boston | 70 Gen. William Devine Way | $784,900 |
| Chelsea | Parcel at former church | $775,700 |
| Lowell | Merrimack St. (9-bedroom-plus building) | $771,500 |
| Boston-Dorchester | 530 Columbia Rd. (former parsonage) | $770,700 |
| Brookline | 158 Pleasant St. (former rectory) | $657,300 |
| Salem | St. Peter St. (former St. John the Baptist school) | $649,100 |
| Somerville | 9-plus bedroom dorm-like building | $644,900 |
| Lowell | W. 6th St. (8-bed, 6.5-bath house) | $643,500 |
| Quincy | 882 Hancock St. (Labor Guild) | $602,080 |
| Natick | 4-6 Lincoln St. (recent purchase) | $600,600 |
| Hudson | 186 Main St. (recent purchase) | $600,000 |
| Salem | Margin St. (office building) | $560,200 |
| Belmont | 407 Belmont St. (former convent-CCD) | $558,000 |
| Maynard | 65 Great Rd. (former St. Casimir) | $553,400 |
| Boston-Dorchester | Bowdoin St. (St. Peter's convent) | $524,800 |
| Cambridge | 44 Dudley St. (Rev. Thos. J. Williams Park) | $511,000 |
| Boston-East Boston | 54 Ashley St. (youth center) | $508,400 |
| Hudson | 246-250 Main St. (recent purchase) | $500,000 |
| Belmont | 132 Lexington St. (rents for $127,000) | $498,000 |
| Boston | 211 Bay State Rd. (B.U. Catholic Center) | $492,600 |
| Boston-Jamaica Plain | Jamaica St. (former Leo XIII school) | $435,900 |
| Arlington | Land used for Little League | $435,600 |
| Weston | Boston Post Rd. (1-acre vacant lot) | $431,300 |
| Brookline | 6 Woodcliff Rd. (Infant Jesus rectory) | $426,100 |
| Foxboro | 50 Carpenter (land and building) | $419,700 |
| Salisbury | Parsonage at beach | $414,200 |
| Medford | St. Raphael church dormitory | $404,200 |
| Newbury | 111 Northern Blvd. (.749 acres on Plum Island) | $389,100 |
| Lowell | Moore St. (3-story, 9-plus bedroom house) | $376,000 |
| Newton | 12 Allen Pl. (former rectory) | $369,000 |
| Chelsea | Parcel at former church | $366,400 |
| Gloucester | 165 Eastern Ave. (one parcel) | $350,400 |
| Swampscott | Humphrey St. (condo building) | $339,900 |
| Newton | 253 Watertown St. (former St. Jean's) | $313,600 |
| Hudson | 44 Central (church) | $310,700 |
| Somerville | Central St. (office building) | $310,000 |
| Maynard | 1 Percival St. (former St. Bridget school) | $308,100 |
| Winthrop | Rented portion of church-owned building | $289,000 |
| Sherborn | 14 Farm Rd. | $275,000 |
| Milton | 865 Brush Hill Rd. (7.3 acres) | $258,200 |
| Lowell | 327 Gorham St. (commercial building) | $252,600 |
| Lexington | 718 Massachusetts Ave. | $240,000 |
| Maynard | Great Rd. (land) | $234,400 |
| Hull | 212 Samoset Ave. (single-family home) | $229,200 |
| Franklin | Union St. (37.5 acres) | $225,000 |
| Chelsea | Clark Ave. (apartments) | $209,500 |
| Hudson | 13A Green St. (Christ the King school) | $203,100 |
| Milton | 265 Wolcott Rd. (2.19 acres) | $199,800 |
| Franklin | Vine St. (26.1 acres) | $199,600 |
| Groveland | Undeveloped land (10.7 acres) | $198,000 |
| Groton | 29 Old Orchard St. | $183,300 |
| Lowell | Gorham St. (demolition site) | $182,200 |
| Quincy | 31 Gay St. (apartments) | $160,700 |
| Ipswich | 20 Topsfield Rd. (.4 acres residential land) | $147,600 |
| Millis | Curve St. (11.18 acres) | $137,100 |
| Gloucester | 6 Lake Rd. (one parcel) | $127,100 |
| Gloucester | 15 Ocean Ave. (one parcel) | $127,000 |
| Foxboro | 99 Mechanic St. | $119,300 |
| Chelsea | Vacant land | $113,100 |
| Scituate | Hatherly Rd. (10.2 acres) | $106,400 |
| Ipswich | 22 Topsfield Rd. (.44 acres residential land) | $100,800 |
| Boston-Jamaica Plain | Haverford St. (Our Lady of Lourdes convent) | $94,800 |
| Winthrop | Winthrop St. (undeveloped parcel) | $86,100 |
| Gloucester | 15 Farrington Ave. (one parcel) | $47,700 |
| Westwood | Gay St. (1 acres [sic?]) | $33,200 |
| Wakefield | Butler Ave. (parcel near church) | $12,600 |
| Haverhill | Chadwick St. (12,300 sq. ft. of land) | $10,000 |
| Hingham | French St. (20.8 acres) | |
| Hingham | Woodlock Rd. (19 acres) |
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Note: This table was transcribed from a paper copy of the Boston Herald by the staff at BishopAccountability.org and was carefully checked. If you notice any transcription errors, please contact us at staff@bishop-accountability.org.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.