Owner buys former convent to add to Church Brew Works complex in Lawrenceville

PITTSBURGH — The entirety of the historic former St. John the Baptist Church campus in Lawrenceville is now fully under one ownership for the first time since the Catholic house of worship closed and was sold off more than 40 years ago.

Sean Casey, owner of Church Brew Works, said he has bought the former convent at 3501 Liberty Ave., a building of around 7,000 square feet with a dorm-style approach big enough for 23 beds and a relatively updated commercial kitchen. He adds the neighboring property to the former church and rectory already combined into the operations of the landmark brewpub.

He calls the circa-1907 building “well-built” and expects it to be a good companion with the neighboring historic church property he and his team converted into a brew pub in the 1990s and have been tinkering and upgrading ever since.