Since 1822, the Church of St. Luke in the Fields has been the steward of a tree-shaded compound in the West Village that encompasses the Federal-style church building, several 19th-century townhouses containing rental apartments, a 1950s school, and gardens that are open to the public.

Until recently, it also included a parking lot.

The patch of asphalt, on the southwest corner of the complex at Barrow and Greenwich Streets, was used by staff and parishioners, said the Rev. Caroline Stacey, the rector of the parish. But over the years, as the cost of maintaining St. Luke’s buildings and social programs mounted, church leaders eyed the parking lot as a potential source of revenue. They couldn’t sell the parcel outright — the Episcopal Diocese of New York, the official owner of the block, would not allow it. But the church could lease the land to a developer who could then build on it.

Thus, 100 Barrow, a co-op under construction by Toll Brothers City Living, which now holds a 99-year ground lease on the site of the parking lot, was born.

Toll Brothers forged the agreement with St. Luke in 2013 and hired Barry Rice Architects to design the new building. It would be constructed at the same time that the church’s four townhouses on Barrow Street would be gutted and converted to single-family market-rate rentals by the developer as part of the deal. The church will continue to own the townhouses.