Converting Commercial or Retail Buildings to Church
Posted on May 20, 2009 in the Real Estate category
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Probably not the same conversions you are most accustomed to discussing in your church, but these conversions can save any church that has plans to build a church a lot of time and money.
It seems like everywhere you turn today someone is reporting another problem with the economy and I don’t know about you but I have had about all of it I can stand.
The Chinese have an interesting view of a crisis. In that language the two characters than make up the word crisis individually translate DANGER and OPPORTUNITY. I would like to direct our attention today to the opportunities ahead for churches that are prepared.
This past March our company held its annual sales meeting and as a part of that meeting we had a panel of bankers talk to us about their outlook on the economy. The bottom line was this; there is a commercial foreclosure crisis on the horizon that will make the recent residential foreclosure crisis look like a Sunday afternoon picnic; estimated time of arrival late summer or fall.
Having been involved in several conversion projects in the past from grocery stores to movie theaters to car dealerships and based on what the bankers had to say we began a search for buildings that would fit the opportunity side of the equation and we have already identified a few of them and expect many more as time goes by.
Some of these buildings have been foreclosed, some are owned by businesses that no longer need the space they once required, investors that can no longer hold the property, there are a myriad of reasons why these owners want to sell.
Anyone that has worked with us knows that one of the things we always do is ask you to get prepared financially and that is more important than ever when you are looking at acquiring one of these distressed buildings to convert to church. The buyer that has their money in their pocket (or their banker in their pocket) are the ones that will be successful because usually the sellers will only deal with those they are sure can close the transaction quickly.
Next, surround yourself with a team of professionals. You need a real estate broker that understands the requirements of churches as well as zoning, parking issues etc. Hire the best you can get, it costs you nothing in the vast majority of cases.
I recommend using a construction management team. The team I use consists of an architect, interior designer, engineer, HVAC expert and contractor. With the proper teamyou can quickly determine which properties you should make offers on.
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A few years back, a local church moved into an old free-standing BI-LO grocery store in our area. At the time I thought it was strange, but overall it makes complete sense.