Choosing a Church Site

One of our major tasks in assisting churches with their real estate needs is locating and evaluating sites on which to build facilities. A sound, established ministry can greatly benefit from the acquisition of a good church site. On the other hand, it should be noted that for young or struggling ministries, property ownership can hinder growth as most resources must go toward a mortgage, leaving little to fund the church’s ministry. 

Assuming an established ministry has good leadership, a well-defined vision, and specific goals and strategies in place, some major considerations in church site selection are:

• Location: The phrase "location, location, location" certainly applies to church real estate. Seek out sites in a stable growth area with frontage on main arteries and near main community activities such as major shopping and work areas or on routes to these areas. Since people have a natural inclination to avoid crossing community barriers such as expressways, locate a new church site within the perceived limits of the community. After determining your desired area, pick several alternative sites within the area to investigate further.

• Size, Shape and Topography: As a rule of thumb, allow one acre per 100 to 120 people for worship and education space, parking and limited landscaping. For additional ministries such as day care, allow extra acreage. It now becomes imperative to have a strong church vision and mission and, by extension, long-term plans and goals: What ministries are planned that require facilities and how much space is needed? The best shape for a site is a rectangular tract with at least 100 feet of frontage. A level tract is the least costly to develop, but be sure the land is all useable and not in a flood plain.

• Costs to Develop: These costs do not include the actual cost of building, just the costs to get the property ready to build on. Such costs may include extensive grading if the property has considerable sloping or irregular topography and bringing utilities to the property if not already available. Other such unforeseen costs may include development impact fees, costs to plat or re-plat, drainage impact fees, unpaid taxes and possible taxes until the land is developed, and special landscaping requirements. Also, any toxic wastes on a site might require costly cleanups, especially if the previous owner or tenant stored or used fuels, chemicals or solvents.

• Legal Considerations: An otherwise perfect site may be un-useable because of various legal restrictions such as city codes, deed restrictions and easements. Each city has its own property codes, and they vary even within a city. Some cities, for instance, allow churches to build regardless of zoning; others may restrict churches to building only in certain zoning requiring a variance or special use permit (SUP) to be approved by planning and zoning and the city council to build in restricted areas. Further, a given area may have other city restrictions such as height or extensive landscaping requirements; also, rigid parking space standards may limit the number of people a facility can accommodate. Deed restrictions imposed by the previous owner may limit the ability to build a church or the manner in which it is built. Likewise, easements for roads or utilities may limit the use of a site. The title company will reveal deed restrictions and easements, but not city codes. Obviously, legal assistance is mandatory in acquiring property.

If your church is considering purchasing land on which to build a facility, give us a call for assistance in locating and evaluating sites. We will be happy to assist you in any way possible.