Last week, a reader tipped us off that this Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses at 1235-37 Federal St. was available for sale.

The building

As opposed to numerous other religious buildings that have gone on the market recently, this building doesn’t have any particularly compelling architectural or historical features that make it crucial that its appearance is maintained. It could, in fact, stand for a little polishing by some trained professionals, particularly on the first floor facade.

The property is listed for $500K, and has over 10K if interior space. Because of its R10 zoning designation, a multi-family apartment conversion would seem to be the ideal reuse of the building. We’re not sure how many units could realistically fit here, but when you look at how far this building goes back, you’d have to think that plenty could be created.

Going back

Alternately, the building could be torn down and replaced by four town homes or duplexes, with 2 fronting Federal St. and 2 fronting Annin. With each new lot possessing about 80′ of depth, front yard parking or giant rear yards would probably be what you’d see here. Not all that uncommon in this neck of the woods, especially on super-tight 1200 block of Annin Street.

Will someone step forward and buy this building at this price? Where is the Congregation going? If you lived here, how many times a week would you visit the Broad Street Diner? Ah, so many questions, and so little time to come up with clever answers…