A 150-year-old church overlooking Mount Vernon’s Washington Monument is for sale this month after the death of the developer behind a controversial plan for the building.

Joseph Novoseller of the New Jersey-based Aria Legacy Group had been under contract since 2019 to pay $1 million for Mt. Vernon Place United Methodist Church, as well as the adjacent Asbury House, a historic mansion that shares a stairwell with the worship site. Real estate brokers Stephen Ferrandi and Barb Bindon confirmed this week that Novoseller suffered a heart attack and died during a trip to Israel in the spring.

The developer’s death places both buildings — which together frame the northeast corner of one of Baltimore’s most recognizable public spaces — back in play after community members and preservationists fiercely opposed Novoseller’s plans to flip the five-story mansion for a profit and to use the sanctuary as an event space.

Trustees for the Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church are now looking to offload the church for $1.32 million, which includes a provision for its tiny congregation to continue leasing space in the building for another 20 years. Asbury House will be placed on the market later for an unspecified amount but not before trustees close on the church building, Ferrandi and Bindon said.

In a statement provided by the property brokers, conference treasurer Paul Eichelberger said the church was built in 1872 as a “cathedral to Methodism” and has become one of Baltimore’s best-known landmarks. Its green-hued stone facade and Norman-Gothic architecture for years served as a backdrop to annual Flower Marts, neighborhood history tours and engagement photo shoots.

“It is heartening to know that the congregation, which has been the heart of Mt Vernon Place UMC for the last 152 years, will remain as a tenant after the property is sold,” Eichelberger said in the statement.

Still, the sale could spell trouble for a small day care, the Mt. Vernon Place Early Learning Center, that is operating out of the church. New ownership would prevent the center from being grandfathered into modern building code requirements for Maryland preschools, Bindon and Ferrandi said. Administrators did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

To Henry Hopkins, president of the Mount Vernon Place Conservancy, the church and mansion represent great architectural gems of Baltimore. Hopkins was among the group of locals who objected to the developer’s plans and said he was unaware of Novoseller’s death until he was contacted by a Baltimore Banner reporter.

“It’s really critical that the city finds a way preserve it or restore it,” Hopkins said of the church in particular. “Baltimore has another opportunity to find a buyer that will be a good steward for the building.”

Hopkins and others took issue with the development plan, which they feared would exacerbate parking issues and said failed to prioritize historic preservation.

“It was a concern that [the buildings] would sit there and rot,” he said.

A Baltimore circuit court judge ruled in favor of Novoseller and the Baltimore City Planning Commission’s decision to subdivide the church and mansion despite a legal challenge filed by the Mount Vernon-Belvedere Association. The association leadership did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

The church’s proximity to the Peabody Institute and Baltimore School for the Arts could make it a great performance space for local institutions, Hopkins said. The building contains a full auditorium, chapel and sanctuary that the property brokers estimate holds 900 people, though some of the hand-carved pews have been removed.

Hopkins acknowledged the building will likely be expensive to maintain. He pledged the conservancy is going to be “very involved” in the issue of finding a new owner.

“It is part of the fabric of the neighborhood, part of the character,” he said. “It must be saved.”

An open house is scheduled for July 21 from 2-4 p.m.