Churches Rush In To The Rescue Of Strip Malls
Churches have never been liked as tenants by the commercial community because their customers turned up only on Sundays
. But now these churches are being feted by landlords of shopping centres who are weighed down by empty cinema halls and jumbo retail units.Matthew D. Messier who focuses on faith and deals with real estate on a no-profit basis on behalf of CNL Specialty Real Estate Services of Orlando said, "There are 250 Circuit City stores that have gone dark. Through 'adaptive reuse,' churches have stepped in ... Because of what's happened with the economy, there are more options for churches now."
The trend is not supported by any data coming in from The International Council of Shopping Centers but it noted that the fact is there for all to see sans the statistics. Erin Hershkowitz speaking on behalf of the group said, "Vacancy rates are high, and they need to fill those spaces. If it's a big box, like a Circuit City, that's a perfect venue for a church."
During the heady days of housing boom the landlords of commercial units hardly glanced at the churches. Only once a week the parishioners turned up and on that day the shops are closed and so apart from the footfalls there was not any buying and selling. Innovative churches have been for the last couple of years renting out the empty fronts for many years but if more attractive accommodation can be got the tenants move away.
But the shopping areas are now lying vacant with posters begging for leases. This has led to non-traditional spaces where there is good traffic to be attractive. This has led many churches to move away from their previous sanctuaries to trendier places.
Rev. Byron Bledsoe formerly the pastor of Parkway Baptist Church (East Orange) got national recognition for baptizing new followers. But he mulled over the fact that the church could do better by attracting new adherents to Christianity rather than "re-churching" from another congregation.
This led him to change the church. It came to renamed C3 Church or Connecting the Community with Christ. The fellowship hall was given a new look and soon new comers began to knock. But more needed to be done. Bledsoe said, "We knew early on that our facilities were a hindrance to what we were trying to accomplish. We had a ton of resources locked up in bricks and mortar."
Commercial owners staggering under vacancies welcome churches and other "alternative" tenants like medical clinics than before.
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