Would you buy a $150k church in France?What would you do with it?

[Denis F.]

Hi BP,

I want to clarify that this question is not relevant to religion but only to my interest in older buildings. You could replace the word church in my question with temple or many old building types not designed for living in full time.

Traditional french religious institutions used to own and still own many old buildings of all kinds across France and have been selling a number of them for a relatively reasonable amount of money. An example is a private school made of a gym, several buildings composed of many classrooms and a chapel (not quite a church but it has a functioning bell :-) ). It was divided in 8 different sections of about 4000sqft each and put up for sale between 130k and 160k euros each. Target buyers are developers who would turn each building into 4 to 8 apartments and rent them out (close to train station). The chapel is the cheapest of all. It is not a cathedral and doesn't have exceptional architectural qualities but it is a well maintained sturdy old structure with very tall ceilings and tall windows. Religious artifacts have been removed and the former owner institution allows it to be re-purposed obviously.

I know some people transform fire stations or libraries or churches into their own home but they are usually driven by passion more than financial wisdom (no offense). I'd love to hear of any ideas or experiences from investors where an old building was re-purposed without becoming a financial disaster.

So, what would you suggest a good re-purpose would be? Do you have any experience in the US with changing an old building into apartments? Can you think of other creative uses for such a space? Just brainstorming...

[David S.]

I would buy it if the numbers made sense.  In many cities in the US, many warehouse or industrial type spaces have been repurposed for apartments.  In many cases, original architecture and features make them highly desirable.  For example, in one that I found, there are high ceilings, original wood floors, interior brick walls, and a wood ceiling.