Construction crews have started gutting a five-story building at 18 Vesey Street in Lower Manhattan, transforming a former Roman Catholic rectory into the new permanent headquarters of Seafarers International House, a nonprofit that has served merchant mariners, immigrants and international travelers for more than 150 years. The building sits near City Hall Park and the World Trade Center, and the renovation will span from the sub-cellar through the roof.
KBD Group has commenced construction as general contractor, working alongside architect Arcari & Iovino on the project, according to the New York Real Estate Journal. Seafarers International House purchased the 9,100-square-foot, five-story brownstone-style building for $5,445,000 in a transaction that closed on January 6, 2026, according to Ariel Property Advisors, which brokered the deal. The property had been listed in March 2025 with an asking price of $4.95 million before selling above ask.
A Rectory's Unusual History and Encumbrance
The 25-foot-wide building previously served as a Roman Catholic rectory, with floors two through five originally comprising 9,108 square feet of rectory space, per property records reviewed by Ariel Property Advisors. The building also carries a perpetual ground-floor easement for the adjacent Barclay Tower's parking garage entrance, an encumbrance that covers 20% of the property's tax obligations, according to a property document hosted on Showcase.
The New York City Department of Buildings issued a general construction permit on April 21, 2026, authorizing a formal change of occupancy from a rectory to rooming units, with an estimated initial permit construction cost of $1.55 million, per filings reviewed by JustPermitted. The full interior renovation, which the real estate journal reports preserves the building's existing footprint, carries a total cost of $2.8 million.
Modern Systems for a Historic Mission
The renovation includes new mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, split-system heat pumps, air conditioning upgrades and a new 80-kilowatt rooftop emergency generator. KBD Group is overseeing all phases of construction, and All City Engineering is serving as engineering consultant on the project. The finished space is designed to create modern mission-based guestrooms, administrative offices and hospitality spaces, per the New York Real Estate Journal's reporting.
Seafarers International House is currently operating from a temporary headquarters while construction is underway. Craig Bagnoli, regional group leader for New York/New Jersey at KBD Group, said the investment will provide a modern, efficient home that allows Seafarers International House to expand its mission for generations.
From Swedish Missionaries to a Modern Nonprofit
Seafarers International House traces its roots to 1873, when the Augustana Lutheran Church established the ministry after the Church of Sweden sent a missionary to New York City to support Swedish mariners and arriving immigrants, according to the organization's own history. The ministry originally operated out of rented quarters on Moore Street in Lower Manhattan before it became an official affiliated mission of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in 1987, following national consolidations of Lutheran church bodies.
For decades, the organization operated an 84-room guesthouse at 123 East 15th Street near Union Square, accommodating mariners and asylum seekers. SIH later adopted a post-pandemic model of leasing out its flagship Union Square building to focus resources on port outreach while it searched for a new permanent home, ultimately landing on the Vesey Street building.
Executive Director Calls Project 'Fruition of Years of Planning'
Marsh Luther Drege, executive director and pastor of Seafarers International House, said the project represents the fruition of years of planning to create a headquarters worthy of an organization that has served seafarers and immigrants. The nonprofit purchased the building as part of a strategic plan to better serve the evolving needs of the maritime and immigrant community, and the renovation is intended to let the facility better support that mission going forward.
The stakes behind the project are significant: ocean shipping transports roughly 90% of global trade across more than 50,000 merchant vessels, and foreign crew members typically serve six- to 10-month contracts while often facing strict U.S. port shore leave restrictions, according to Seafarers International House. During 2025 alone, the organization's port chaplains boarded 1,347 merchant vessels and visited 14,078 seafarers across ports on the U.S. Eastern Seaboard, including New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, Albany and New Haven, while providing direct land transportation to 1,878 mariners.
KBD Group, formally known as Kajima Building & Design Group, Inc., is headquartered in River Edge, New Jersey, and brings nearly 60 years of commercial and institutional construction experience to the project. Arcari + Iovino Architects, PC, based in Little Ferry, New Jersey, was founded in 1992 and specializes in public, municipal and institutional facility renovations, having previously collaborated with Seafarers International House leadership on architectural planning.
