The Catholic Bishop's office building in Spokane Washington will be sold in order to help cover costs associated with a recent sex-abuse case against the diocese.

'The diocese has retained Keen Realty, a Great Neck, N.Y., company that specializes in representing companies in bankruptcy or other financial troubles, to sell its historic Catholic Pastoral Center downtown, as well as two vacant parcels near Spokane.

The Pastoral Center, also known as the Chancery, is among $11 million in assets the diocese claimed when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in December 2004, listing more than $81 million in claims.

Keen Realty Vice President Michael Matlat said the Pastoral Center's asking price is $1.5 million. A 92-acre parcel of land near Medical Lake, west of the city, also is listed at $1.5 million, while a 3-acre parcel in the Spokane Valley is worth an estimated $75,000.

"It has always been our intention to sell everything," Shaun Cross, a lawyer representing the diocese in its bankruptcy case, said Wednesday. "This is the start of that process. Virtually everything the diocese owns will be put up for sale."

A federal bankruptcy judge recently ruled that churches, schools and other properties in 82 parishes are owned by the bishop and could be sold to satisfy creditors, who are mostly people who claim they were abused by priests and other clergy.

The properties are believed to be worth an additional $80 million. The diocese has appealed that ruling.

Spokane Bishop William Skylstad, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, is among those named in bankruptcy claims as an abuser. Skylstad has denied the claim that he sexually abused a young woman in the 1960s.

The house where Skylstad lives also will be sold, part of an estimated $5 million in real estate the diocese owns, Cross said.

Another $3 million is potentially available from a parish construction loan portfolio, he said.

The diocese has announced settlements amounting to about $10 million with insurance carriers and is negotiating possible settlements with other insurance companies.

The 28,968-square-foot, three-story Pastoral Center on West Riverside Avenue was built in 1910 and has served as a general office building for the diocese.

The 92-acre vacant parcel is just northwest of Interstate 90 and Medical Lake Road, about two miles southwest of the Spokane International Airport.

The three-acre parcel is in a residential area next to Painted Hills Golf Course in the Spokane Valley.

The diocese recently sold the former St. Anne's Children's Home property for about $500,000.'
Spokane Catholic Diocese To Sell Bishop's Office Building

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