BUILDING COMMITTEE REPORT:

PLANNING GRACE’S FUTURE COURSE

Proverbs 16:9

“In their hearts humans plan their course,
 but the Lord establishes their steps.”

The Grace Building Committee met virtually Thursday, November 19th. Discussions addressed two topics. First, we ventured into the world of commercial real estate and property values. We need to know the market value of both of our properties; the church at Round Lake & Bunker and the Nightingale property 3 miles north of the church just off Crosstown Blvd. The second topic was a review of preliminary proposals we requested from 2 architectural firms and 2 design and build firms. Real estate values and building costs will help the congregation determine our path forward.

The Nightingale property, purchased in January 2002, was the physical start of our possible dream of either a second campus location, or a complete relocation from our Round Lake facility. The 18+ years of ownership and promise have had a few rough patches including a 2008-9 recession, leadership changes, and now a pandemic. The passing of time also brought changes to our Grace ministry. Physical structures, though welcome and necessary, became less important as our mission looked beyond ourselves with our community and world coming into sharper focus. To meet physical space challenges, in 2006 we added the portables that must now go.

Faced with the imminent removal of the portables by June 2024*, the congregation needs to decide what path we follow into the future. At our last meeting, we had a representative from a commercial real estate company available to answer questions and provide insight regarding property values.

The Nightingale site is located in the center of single-family homes. When we purchased the property, we received a plat of how that parcel would look as a residential development. Roughly 20 lots could be developed based on that plat though changes may arise based on updated storm water management requirements. Locally, new housing continues to be attractive in our area. This bodes well for selling the parcel if the congregation determines that to be our best course of action. On the other side, our Round Lake campus is surrounded by commercially zoned properties. If we sold that property, the buyer would likely demolish our facility and construct a new building designed around new usage. The market caution with Round Lake is that new commercial construction has significantly slowed due to the pandemic and the church is surrounded by existing commercial properties. This implies there may be a period that passes before Round Lake has market interest and this likely would impact our schedule. Because of this, it is difficult to determine the current valve or if we could even sell the church property. The roughly estimated market value of the Nightingale property is $1.2-1.4 million, based on a comparison of a nearby, similar sized offering.

More accurate information regarding our property values will be forthcoming. A wetland delineation for Nightingale will begin shortly and from that and other in-depth analysis of both sites, more details should provide better clarity.

The second topic covered in our meeting was centered around the professional help required to build or remodel. We have requested and received proposals from two architectural firms and two design/build contractors. Further interviews with the respondents will be held in early December. This type of professional help maintains our schedule and will also provide input as we flesh out our needs and wants with cost estimates and visual modeling. The challenge for the congregation will be to define the path we want to undertake.

The congregation will have opportunities to engage in the property discussion with informational meetings scheduled for Sunday, January 17 and Sunday, January 24. Information will be provided for both properties, and this time will also provide an opportunity to converse on how this decision will further our ministries. The Committee believes a final decision on property will be included as an item in our January 31 Congregational Meeting. Following that decision, congregational gatherings will be scheduled to discuss building decisions.

*We had a previously stated that this was June 2023, the correct date for the removal of the portables is June 2024.