This article is written by Rosa Salter Rodriguez and originally appeared in The Journal Gazette
FORT WAYNE – Fort Wayne’s St. Jude Catholic Church and school is getting some breathing room after a real estate transaction announced Thursday.
The essentially landlocked parish along East State Boulevard will have use of land and an office building in the 2100 block after a purchase by the Mary Cross Tippmann Foundation, said Mike Dahm, a Realtor with Bradley Co., Fort Wayne.
Dahm represented the sellers, Parkview Hospital and the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, as well as the buyer in the transaction.
No sales price was disclosed.
The Fort Wayne foundation supports many Catholic causes, according to public documents accounting for its work.
The land contains two residences acquired from Parkview at 2115 and 2117 E. State Blvd., Dahm said. They will be torn down for parking, he said.
An office building with 13,970 square feet at 2109 E. State was purchased from the diocese and will remain. The building will become offices for parish use, Dahm said.
The building was previously used by St. Anne Home, he said. St. Anne has a Catholic retirement facility in the 1900 block of Randallia Drive.
“It’s what they call a win-win,” Dahm said of the transaction.
“Parkview is doing this for the benefit of St. Jude,” he added.
Space has been tight for some time for the church and school, which lost its playground because of the need for more parking, Dahm said.
