Church closes on former Monroeville DoubleTree hotel

MONROEVILLE, Pa. (KDKA) — The former DoubleTree hotel next to the Monroeville Mall looks to have new life. 

On their Instagram page, Grace Life Church said they have closed on the hotel property next to the Monroeville Convention Center and Monroeville Mall. The DoubleTree hotel closed suddenly back in February. Then in July, KDKA-TV learned about the church's efforts to reopen the facility. They bought it shortly after it closed.  

Now as the year is coming to a close, Pastor Buck Schafer said in their Instagram video that in the past week, the church closed the deal. Crews were out working on the hotel on Wednesday. 

"Grace Life Church, this is a most anticipated, exciting day," Pastor Amy Schafer announced in the video. 

The church was not available to talk on Thursday but has told KDKA-TV that they hope to have the building still operate as a hotel and were working to get a partnership there. They want to rent out the bottom floor for the church services.

"We're standing in this miracle in 2024. God said, 'I'm going to give you an open door.' We came together, you guys came together to see this vision pass," Pastor Buck Schafer said in the video. 

County records are not yet updated to show what the sale price ended up being for the property. According to tax records, its gross taxes for 2024 were about $24,500. With the property assessment changing tax values, a much-needed property is staying on the books.