Real estate brokers struggle to resurrect churches
Faced with a smaller congregation, the Second Church of Christ, Scientist, in Sacramento, Calif., is up for sale.
Church members hired a real estate broker in December and priced their two buildings on 15,000 square feet at $1.4 million. Two months later, Leigh Nurre faces one of the toughest transactions in real estate: selling a property designed for one purpose and of interest to only a sliver of the market.
Nurre is among hundreds of U.S. real estate agents and brokers marketing older churches as traditional mainline congregations decline, people move to the suburbs and churches increasingly become all-week lifestyle centers that need more room. Nurre and others make telephone calls to new, renting congregations that may or may not have money to buy. They advertise on commercial real estate sites under “special purpose” designations. And they get exploratory calls from developers and others floating ideas for other uses, from funeral homes to private schools.
Nothing about the process is easy. Most older churches are designed solely for services and can require rezoning for alternate uses. Residential areas accustomed to a low-impact religious neighbor can be fussy about busier uses. Seller congregations can even balk at buyer proposals they find offensive. Churches also are expensive and fledgling congregations often lack the necessary large down payments on sites often listed for more than $1 million.