"We spent a lot of time determining how this could be economically feasible for the Church," says Sam Suzuki, a managing director of Vintage. "We arranged it so that the profits from the sale of the residential units and the ongoing income from the office space will offset the Church's construction costs and future operating expenses."

The church, at 81-04 Baxter Ave. in Elmhurst, Queens, will be demolished to make way for the new five-story building, which will house the church, medical offices and residential housing. Construction is expected to begin this summer. The 500-member church, which was established 20 years ago to serve the Korean-American community, plans to occupy the basement and sub-basement areas of the building. Following the estimated $5 million renovation, the first two floors will house medical offices for Elmhurst Hospital Center, which is located across the street and the upper three floors will contain 12 two-bedroom for-sale condominium units, that will be available to the general public.

"The Church's original plans--which were drafted nearly 10 years ago--called for studio apartments on the upper three floors, but when we became involved in this project, we quickly realized that that wasn't the most advantageous plan," Suzuki explains. "After assessing what type of housing the community residents were in the market for, we recognized that there was actually a very strong and growing demand for larger apartments that could accommodate families."