Enter the word “church” in the keyword search box on commercial real estate listing site LoopNet and hundreds of properties will pop up for sale, from historic churches in rural areas to mega-churches in urban ones.
Many churches have little choice but to sell because they’re in or near foreclosure, often because they’re struggling with declining membership and high maintenance costs. Other churches, however, are flourishing and selling their current facilities to move to larger ones elsewhere.
Increasingly, as church leaders become more sophisticated, a third path has arisen: Teaming up with real-estate companies to redevelop their property to include mixed uses on the land. That strategy can increase revenue for the congregation while preserving the church facility.
Two weeks ago, The Collegiate Churches of New York announced it has teamed up with HFZ Capital Group, a New York-based real-estate investment and development company, to develop a mixed-use building on West 30th Street in Manhattan on land adjacent to, and previously owned by, the landmark Marble Collegiate Church.
See entire article in the Wall Street Journal.
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