St. Mark’s Church is in the process of being demolished in preparation for the sale of the Hamilton Street property by the Archdiocese of Newark.

Jim Goodness, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Newark, confirmed via email on Wednesday that negotiations are under way for a sale of the property on Hamilton Street. “The actions taken last week were in preparation, as the negotiations continue,” he said of the demolition that began last Wednesday.

In response to an email seeking comment last week, Mayor Ray Giacobbe, Jr. said he “looks forward to hearing the ideas and options” for the site.

“The city welcomes proposals on what to do with the site and we are open to any and all reasonable applications that will enhance the redevelopment efforts in our downtown district,” he said. “Our residential and mixed use development projects are at or nearly 100 percent occupancy and we believe there is a demand for additional projects such as these.”

St. Mark’s Church has been largely vacant for the past several years after the parish merged in 2010 with nearby St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church on Central Avenue, together becoming Divine Mercy Parish.

Demolition permits for the church and adjacent rectory were filed with the city in May. The stained-glass windows had been removed sometime in the spring.

St. Mark’s Church fronts Hamilton Street, with the Robinson’s Branch of the Rahway River passing directly to the east of the property. The church parking lot stretches from Hamilton Street to the rear on Seminary Avenue.

The 0.9-acre property (Block 162, Lot 9 – the largest lot on the tax map to the left) is assessed for $666,700 overall ($146,600 for the land, $520,100 for the building), according to property records. Based on an overall property tax rate of $6.528 per $100 of assessed value for 2017, that would normally generate property taxes of $43,522 — but since it’s owned by the Archdiocese of Newark, it is exempt from property taxes.