Church transformation ?

Question

So i gest purchased  an old church that that also has a perish house on the property about 2000 sqf that i live in and also i rent it out on airbnb  so i get some income from it.

the church and the event center is about 7,000 sq ft. With a sanctuary that is 3000sqf and an attached class room and event center style building about 4000sqf 2000sqf basement where the classes are and 2000sqf where the commercial kitchen is and the event center . This is downtown Monroe Wa, but on a relatively busy street.

There is not that much parking on the property but there is a lot of street parking available.

I am looking for creative ideas on what to convert it into to generate profits? Multi-family apartment style housing ?. Maybe low class hotel or hostel? Commercial might be kinda tough because zoning is mostly residential.

I finished remodeling the place to make it in an wedding venue but i don't have the time to do that so i am looking for something else maybe

Account Closed · Answer

Use the space to pray you make a lot of money on this purchase

Stephen Sheppard · Answer

This is very interesting. I live not 30 miles away grom you so I understand the landscape and what the market looks like. The problem is it's difficult to get financing for churches or an event center that looks like a church! And if you own the building its difficult to refi.  Now if you are looking to develop the property you can go with traditional financing if you can go full doc. Many investors can't so they call a lender who specializes in non qm products! Just make sure you choose the right lending partners. If you dont you may spend more of your own funds to finish the project. If you dont have access to lines of credit you could be in trouble. The point of all this is have plan that takes all of this into consideration!

John Demitri · Answer

Emanuel,

How about making it a shared office/tech space. Since you are downtown there probably is a need for shared office space. Having the classrooms you can have open areas with tables and put up partitions to give private offices. Draw teach / entrepreneur events with training.

Check  these out for inspiration: https://makeoffices.com/pricing/

and https://www.wework.com/plans

Check out https://palmbeachtech.org/ for space and pricing ideas. Check out FAU Tech Runway's paid events for ideas on how to use the event space https://www.eventbrite.com/e/meet-the-angels-prese...

Get in touch with the local government office for business development and any college about a business incubator.

It sounds like you may have a great place to be used as a venue to foster new business into the city. This will also allow you to get sponsorship money from Angel Investors too.

Just some ideas I have on the use of your space.

Demitri

Emanuel Popa · Answer

Thank you so much for all the replies and links I appreciate it.

Nick P. · Answer

This has been done quite a bit here in Denver.  I am not sure how zoning works but I imagine you could make a case for preserving the history/building (not sure on the age of yours).  Assuming you can do it legally, turning into apartments seems like a creative and fun idea!

https://www.denverpost.com/2016/12/01/denver-church-condo-for-sale/

Michael Guzik · Answer

@Emanuel Popa That's a very unique situation man and I've honestly never heard anyone ask about that. It sounds like it could be a home run though! I think the answer to your question depends on how much money you have or are willing to invest in the property. I feel like you already know what to do you just want some reassurance. Like you said either an apartment style complex or a motel/airbnb style thing seems like the best thing to do in my opinion. An apartment style complex would be more expensive but I feel like it would definitely be a more passive and great cash flow option. The airbnb/motel thing would also be great and I would think it would require less money to make that happen. That would be a very cool pitch and if done correctly would appeal to many millennials and people looking for a unique experience! The airbnb option will most likely produce a much higher return but it isn't a very passive option and will require lot's of time and day to day care. I would look at your market and see what is needed, then figure out what financial options you have to make that happen and go from there. Good luck!