the Boston Globe reports that the sale value of the closing parish properties could be $400 million. While actual assessed values are much lower, local assessors’ offices never had an incentive to give market-value assessments since they weren’t going to get taxes from them anyway. Still, I think the $400 million is way too high. For one thing, many of these properties are in awkward locations that will be difficult to develop, including the necessity of demolishing the church buildings. (There are only so many trendy church-condo conversions you can do.)
