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Choosing a Church Site
One
of our major tasks in assisting churches with their real estate
needs is locating and evaluating sites on which to build facilities.
A sound, established ministry can greatly benefit from the acquisition
of a good church site. On the other hand, it should be noted that
for young or struggling ministries, property ownership can hinder
growth as most resources must go toward a mortgage, leaving little
to fund the church’s ministry.
Assuming an
established ministry has good leadership, a well-defined vision,
and specific goals and strategies in place, some major considerations
in church site selection are:
- Location:
The phrase "location,
location, location" certainly applies to church real estate. Seek
out sites in a stable growth area with frontage on main arteries
and near main community activities such as major shopping and work
areas or on routes to these areas. Since people have a natural
inclination to avoid crossing community barriers such as expressways,
locate a new church site within the perceived limits of the community.
After determining your desired area, pick several alternative sites
within the area to investigate further.
- Size, Shape and Topography: As
a rule of thumb, allow one acre per 100 to 120 people for worship
and education space, parking and limited landscaping. For additional
ministries such as day care, allow extra acreage. It now becomes
imperative to have a strong church vision and mission and, by extension,
long-term plans and goals: What ministries are planned that require
facilities and how much space is needed? The best shape for a site
is a rectangular tract with at least 100 feet of frontage. A level
tract is the least costly to develop, but be sure the land is all
useable and not in a flood plain.
- Costs to Develop: These costs
do not include the actual cost of building, just the costs to get
the property ready to build on. Such costs may include extensive
grading if the property has considerable sloping or irregular topography
and bringing utilities to the property if not already available.
Other such unforeseen costs may include development impact fees,
costs to plat or re-plat, drainage impact fees, unpaid taxes and
possible taxes until the land is developed, and special landscaping
requirements. Also, any toxic wastes on a site might require costly
cleanups, especially if the previous owner or tenant stored or
used fuels, chemicals or solvents.
- Legal Considerations: An otherwise
perfect site may be un-useable because of various legal restrictions
such as city codes, deed restrictions and easements. Each city
has its own property codes, and they vary even within a city. Some
cities, for instance, allow churches to build regardless of zoning;
others may restrict churches to building only in certain zoning
requiring a variance or special use permit (SUP) to be approved
by planning and zoning and the city council to build in restricted
areas. Further, a given area may have other city restrictions such
as height or extensive landscaping requirements; also, rigid parking
space standards may limit the number of people a facility can accommodate.
Deed restrictions imposed by the previous owner may limit the ability
to build a church or the manner in which it is built. Likewise,
easements for roads or utilities may limit the use of a site. The
title company will reveal deed restrictions and easements, but
not city codes. Obviously, legal assistance is mandatory in acquiring
property.
If your church is considering
purchasing land on which to build a facility, give us a call for
assistance in locating and evaluating sites. We will be happy to
assist you in any way possible.
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