Congregations Are Taking Space Wherever They Can Find It, From Warehouses to Former Banks and Bowling Alleys
A sign in front of the former Inline Skating Rink in Irvine says it all: “Future Home of the University Synagogue.”
Throughout history, cities built themselves around places of worship. As the center of a community, the church, synagogue, mosque or temple came first. Everything else,from tinker to tailor to candlestick maker,filled in around it.
But these days, religious institutions with traditional arches and spires are an exception rather than the rule.
Today places of worship come in all shapes and sizes. With land scarce and expensive, religious institutions look increasingly to existing buildings for their homes. They purchase and refurbish old skating rinks, bowling alleys, movie theaters, banks, warehouses,any buildings they find that will accommodate their congregations.
Bill Lowder first saw the trend 12 years ago. A commercial broker specializing in church property, Lowder began getting calls from churches wanting to rent space in malls.
“That’s the most expensive place there is and the least possible place a city government would let you have,” Lowder said. “We saw there was an opportunity. Just not there.”
The Jewish community has found a niche in banks, according to Rabbi David Eliezrie, president of the Rabbinical Council of Orange Council.
With a large lobby for the synagogue, a vault convertible into a library and ample parking, a bank is practically ready for service upon purchase, according to Eliezrie.
“And you can usually get a good deal,” he added. “Because of all the mergers, banks are selling off branches at a good price.”
Eliezrie has overseen the purchase and conversion of banks in Mission Viejo and Laguna Beach.
He says there is a growing need, especially among smaller congregations, for religious institutions to reuse vacant commercial buildings.
“Most of the land in Orange County is owned by large corporations,” Eliezrie said. “When developers begin zoning, they set a little bit aside for religious use.”
But the portion they set aside is generally for large congregations, shutting out the smaller ones, he said.
That’s where Lowder comes in. With territory stretching from Santa Barbara to San Diego, the broker has found a niche in the church real estate market and averages 12 to 15 deals a year. After 11 years in a private firm with his wife, the Lowders merged with the Los Angles-based Charles Dunn Co. Typical of their deals is the new home they found for The Village Church of Irvine at 5 Wrigley Drive near the Bake Parkway exit of the San Diego (405) Freeway. Formerly occupied by Plastotek, a provider of computer circuitry, the 15,000-square-foot warehouse and office facility underwent a makeover to accommodate its new occupants.
“We converted the warehouse storage space into the worship center,” Lowder said. “Then we converted the balance of the offices into classrooms.”
But Lowder said finding church space has become increasingly difficult. In the beginning, he found a vacant warehouse, reached an agreement with the seller and helped the church move in.
“Back then it was easier to get approval,” Lowder said.
Today, he said, the permit process is more stringent and cities, not excited about losing tax revenue, are adding hoops to jump through, including requiring landscaping that eats into parking.
And adequate parking remains one of the largest hindrances to finding a home for a growing church, according to Lowder.
“The rule of thumb is, you need to provide one spot for every three people who attend,” Lowder said.
Some churches attempt to get around the parking problems by either offering three to four services on a Sunday, with no one service exceeding the parking limit. In other cases, churches have begun sharing space. One congregation will hold its service in the morning, another in the afternoon and then they alternate during the week.
“There’s a church in Anaheim, The Grace Place, that leases out space during the week to a Spanish ministry,” Lowder said.
Meanwhile, making sense of the city ordinances is where people like Mel Malkoff get involved.
“We’re in the church development business,” said Malkoff, who is a planner by profession. “We specialize in gaining the entitlements for and development of religious facilities.”
Malkoff said he often has his work cut out for him because religious institutions are competing with developers for the same piece of property.
“They often lose in that context, because very few denominations can compete at the market rate,” Malkoff said. “So they have to go to marginal areas,hillsides, waste hazards, environmentally sensitive areas or existing structures.”
Other times, though, Malkoff has competed with developers on a fiscal level.
“We have actually done a physical, fiscal impact analysis, the same things a developer would do for a shopping center, to show the revenue that could come in,” Malkoff said. “We showed that large churches bring in money, offer employment and stabilize neighborhoods.”
“The main objections are taxes, traffic and noise,” said Deborah M. Rosenthal, an attorney with Cox, Castle & Nicholson LLP, which specializes in land-use issues.
Churches don’t pay taxes and in cases where a city is looking to expand its tax base, it does not want to be burdened by a large church.
As for residential areas, people object to the increased traffic and noise a church potentially brings with it.
“Surprisingly, communities often complain of the noise created by children at church pre-school,” Malkoff said.
Last year, religious institutions finally felt relief with passage of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.
“It puts religious uses in a special category and places a burden on public agencies to meet a very high standard when regulating church practices,” Rosenthal said.
It also provides that public agencies cover the religious group’s attorney fees should the agencies lose a legal battle.
Although the basic worship service facility saw relief, the battle now shifts to the definition of “religious use.”
Exemptions have been made to the place of worship, but what happens with outreach ministries such as homeless shelters and food banks? And how does the law define religion? Do sun worshippers qualify?
“Those are questions the Supreme Court will be hearing soon,” Rosenthal said. n
