The shuttered DoubleTree by Hilton hotel in front of the Monroeville Mall has a new owner, and a local church plans to move its ministry there, the pastor said Thursday.
Two Trees Global LLC, a real estate company affiliated with Grace Life Church, closed on the purchase of the former DoubleTree hotel at 101 Mall Blvd. on Nov. 15, said Pastor Butch Schafer. He declined to disclose the sale price for the hotel, which was owned by 101 Mall Boulevard Owner LLC. Online Allegheny County property records have not been updated to reflect the new owners or the sale price.
Two Trees Global is close to signing an agreement with Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. to rebrand the DoubleTree as a Hilton hotel, Shaffer said.
Kent Landers, a spokesman for Hilton, could not be reached for comment on Thursday.
The nondenominational church plans to use the former hotel ballroom as a site for religious services and the second floor of the building for its offices, Schafer said. Grace Life will maintain its current site at 4761 William Penn Highway in Monroeville for its group meetings for the time being.
“We have 3,500 members and we are growing steadily. We need way more space for parking” and the hotel site has that, Schafer said. He founded Grace Life Church 29 years ago.
Grace Life will lease the ballroom and lobby from Two Trees Global for what it refers to as its East Campus, with its North Campus on McKnight Road in Ross.
Schafer declined to identify the principal of Two Trees Global, other than to say he is a member of the church. The company registered with the Pennsylvania Department of State in July but the agency does not identify the officers of a limited liability corporation.
The previous owners, 101 Mall Boulevard Owner LLC, purchased the property in 2021 from Oxford Development Corp. At the time, 101 Mall Boulevard was led by Yaacov Amar, according to property records. Amar, a New York City investor, could not be reached for comment Thursday.
The church sought to purchase the hotel when it went on the market earlier this year, Schafer said. Church leaders had been looking for a new site for the past two or three years, and when the DoubleTree abruptly closed on Feb. 28, they moved quickly to reach an agreement to purchase the hotel, he added.
As Grace Life looks to move its East Campus on Route 22 to the hotel, the church’s four-acre campus and about 60 acres of undeveloped hillside was on the market this year for $3.7 million, according to online real estate records.
In 2017, Monroeville officials denied the church’s request to rezone about 50 acres of land at the East Campus into an estimated $5 million commercial development complex, which would have included a private club, ice rink, zip line and more.