Katoomba’s Exclusive Brethren Church set to be sold

Katoomba’s Exclusive Brethren church, a former meeting site of the Blue Mountains chapter of the evangelical Exclusive Brothers, has been listed for March auction with a price guide of between $690,000 to $750,000.

The property at 38-42 Lurline St, Katoomba was built in 1930 and is sold with existing DA plans to knock down and rebuild four townhouses on the block.

Property records do not reveal who currently owns the site.

The Exclusive Brethren are an offshoot of the evangelical Christian church named the Plymouth Brethren, known in Australia as the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church.

The 1056 sqm block of land divided into three lots.

The church was built in 1920, according to NSW Government records.

Australian businessman Bruce Hales is the sect leader.

According to the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage the Exclusive Brethren’s headquarters is located in the Katoomba/Leura area. The Exclusive Brethren church, the group’s first, was built in 1920 by members and principal bricklayer and designer Jack Davies.

The NSW Office of Environment and Heritage noted two adjacent lots, currently used for parking, were purchased in the 1990s, and described the building as “a well built modest church hall with a well proportioned if old fashioned design”.

Plenty of empty space inside.

The view of the church from the carpark, which takes up two lots.

Belle Property agent Matt Grima says the property is hard to value because it largely depends on the intentions of the buyer.

“It is open to both commercial and residential applications and pricing really depends on the buyer and properties such as this rarely come on the market,” he says.