Representatives of St. John the Baptist Greek Catholic Church in Munhall, Pennsylvania, a steel town suburb of Pittsburgh, presented to him a formal proposal offering land and financial assistance—if he would establish his residence and episcopal seat at the parish. Given the parish's close proximity to the main offices of the Greek Catholic Union of the USA, the oldest and largest fraternal organization serving the Rusyn community, and especially because Western Pennsylvania was home to the largest Rusyn-American population, Takach accepted the offer. He designated St. John's as the cathedral of the new Exarchate. St. John the Baptist had been constructed in 1903 and designed by the Hungarian-born architect, Titus de Bobula, who patterned it after the Rusyn Greek Catholic Cathedral of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in Uzhhorod. By February 1926, a new bishop's residence and chancery was completed across the street from the cathedral.