I've noticed the Catholic Church selling off lots of land. You?

Question

I've noticed the Catholic Church selling off lots of land. As in acres upon acres, in cities around the world, but I'll stick to what I've seen in the US. I know some of it is to pay off victims, but I wonder if there are additional reasons. It's a lot of land and therefore a ton of money.

Has anyone here noticed this and/or bid on some of the land?

My point is, if you're looking for prime locations for real estate, you may want to check if Catholic churches near you (or elsewhere) are selling. Many cities/towns in the US were originally built around a church, so that land is still centrally located. Some of the properties are historic, so there would be special zoning laws attached, but most aren't. I've seen some churches specify who can bid on their property (e.g., must have done development work in the city previously, must be based in the city, etc.), so you may run into that as well. Additionally, I've seen churches that have their parcels envisioned in a city's 2040 Comp Plan as multi-family (high-density residential).

Matt Devincenzo · Answer

Yes it's pretty well known that they have land, both previously developed and vacant, that they're actively selling or will be selling soon. I do land use and site civil, and we as a company have worked on at least 5+ sites for diocese over the years here in San Diego that have ended up sold to developers. Most of the approvals aren't all that helpful since the new developer is pursuing a significant change in the use from Assembly (religious) to Office, multi-family or Retail. But sometimes there is some value in the prior work depending on the various details.

Matt Devincenzo · Answer

For us they're coming back to us for DD either prior to their purchase, or following the sale. Since we do land use entitlements and site civil, typically we have an understanding of the site issues and the solutions we worked out previously for the diocese. So it makes sense that even though the entitlement may be different some of the issues may be the same e.g. habitat, access etc.

Drew Sygit · Answer

There's a church in Pontiac, Michigan that was turned into a bar.club back in the '90's. Went there several times and the layout was not great.

A Christian group bought it off the bar owners and turned it back into a church.

Dawn Melin · Answer

I would reach out to the local diocese and speak with the person in charge of the real estate.  Ask if they have any properties for sale, and if not, do they keep a list of potential buyers, and ask to be put on the list.  The Church will most likely list the properties with a Brokerage to maximize exposure.  Most of the commercial RE sites (Loopnet,crexia, etc) allow you to search by religious properties.  Keep in mind, in NY the Catholic Church has to obtain an order from the Court to be able to sell, so this makes closings take even longer since approval is not requested until after a contract is fully effective (no continencies left).  I am not sure what other states require.

Doug Pretorius · Answer

@Maura I. Not just the Catholic Church, here in Canada nearly every major religion is in serious decline in membership. Every little town and village's church has been turned into a house. And the cathedrals in cities are being torn down or turned into tourist traps.

I don't know if there are other reasons but some of these payouts are absolutely massive. It was all over the news this summer that the entire Archdiocese of Newfoundland was being dissolved and all 40 properties sold to pay for the damages awarded to victims, including the historic Basilica of St. John the Baptist in downtown St. John's.

Scott Mac · Answer

I doubt you can turn a centuries old church into a desirable multi-family.

The front doors in the one's I've seen are 3 inches thick and must weigh 800 lbs each, with huge heavy hardware.

The insides are cavernous, and they have enormous air powered antique organs inside.

And the bells might require special insurance policy until you remove them.

They also tend to have very steep slate roofs with pointy parts holding huge crosses on  top.

Not all but some are like this.

Special purpose buildings, probably better to be used as another denomination church.

It seems like you could cut it up into rental units, but the renter desirability would probably not be there for most of them.

Just my 2 cents.

Drone flyover of a Detroit church: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUDhzPeijMw

R and M seems like an endless black hole: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJ_XIE0h9t8

Ben McMahon · Answer

This is actually pretty interesting.  I wonder if there is a way to get in on the inside track for opportunities.  @Matt Devincenzo I'd be interested in what channel those projects come to you.  Is it the same person every time?  I have a friend that is working on the board for Catholic Charities here in San Diego, and he has asked me some construction related stuff on church property.  I just don't know who makes the decisions, or where to look.

I've noticed the Catholic Church selling off lots of land. You?

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