Rethinking Church Facilities: Two Emerging Opportunities for Expansion & Remodel
In recent years, a number of BGW church clients have embraced alternative methods for facility expansion, new construction and remodel. These approaches had been gaining momentum over the last decade, but were accelerated following the pandemic of 2020. Both of these emerging trends offer churches more affordable and financially sustainable solutions to address facility limitations.
Emerging Opportunities for Stewardship-based Church Facility Expansion & Remodel
Repurposing Commercial Buildings
The shift toward the use of unconventional buildings for worship has been underway for years, but with more large retail spaces available than ever before, this trend is becoming even more prevalent. Fueled by the changing spending habits of U.S. consumers, the growth of e-commerce, and the impacts of the 2020 pandemic, a record 12,200 U.S. stores closed in 2020, which amounted to 159 million square feet of vacant space. This eclipsed the previous record set in 2019 of 10,000 store closings.
Since these properties have much of the infrastructure already in place, including the building envelope, utilities and parking, they can offer churches substantial savings compared to ground-up construction on new land. BGW has completed a wide range of repurpose projects throughout the country in recent years that involved the conversions of retail big boxes, grocery stores, retail strip centers, commercial office buildings, theaters, industrial facilities, and even auto dealerships.
We recently completed the conversion of an 83,000 SF Lowes Home Improvement Center for Light of Joy Church in Riverdale, GA. Since the property had much of the infrastructure already in place — including the building envelope, utilities and parking — the facility was remodeled for a fraction of the cost of constructing a new building on vacant land. It also offers the church great visibility in a high-traffic area with accessibility from major roads.
In Mars, PA we converted a 27,000 square foot family fun center for Discovery Christian Church that opened in April 2021. One of the church’s primary goals was for the new building to become an extension of the neighborhood. To help accomplish this, they chose to keep the mini golf course on the property and repurpose some of the existing playground equipment.
Grace Fellowship Church in Niles, OH moved into their newly remodeled facility in May 2021, This project involved the repurpose of a 30,000 square foot banquet / event center. The remodeled space includes a worship auditorium that seats up to 656 people and features state-of-the-art A/V/L capabilities, a large lobby / gathering area with a cafe’ and an 820 SF indoor kids’ play area.
In November 2020, BGW finalized a complete interior remodel of a former bakery and bar for Legacy Church in La Mesa, CA. The smaller bakery unit was remodeled into a children’s ministry space, with classrooms and a large multi-use room. The larger unit, which was a bar, has been transformed into a new sanctuary, with supporting lobby, cafe, classrooms and admin office spaces. The design included the removal of much of the existing wood roof support structure and the addition of new steel jack beam assemblies to clear the sanctuary of columns.
In October 2020, BGW and Erickson-Hall Construction completed a unique mixed-use project involving the renovation of the historic Ritz Theatre in downtown Escondido, CA. The 80-year-old theater had been vacant for 15 years. In addition to being the home of New Vintage Church, the goal for “The Grand” is to become Escondido’s premier private event and community gathering space. The stunning 2-story multi-use performing arts venue seats up to 577 people and also features a black box movie theater, dance studios, meeting rooms, and a 3rd floor rooftop lounge.
View other repurpose projects here.
There are several potential challenges in repurposing commercial buildings, as zoning and building codes can dictate how the property can be used and are sometimes difficult to change. Based on our experience, there are five keys to consider in the conversion of retail and commercial buildings for worship. Read more about those considerations below.
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Childcare Centers in Churches:
A Financially Sustainable Ministry Outreach in Your Community
The events of 2020 have also accelerated a paradigm shift that has been taking place among churches in how they view their land and buildings. Church facilities have traditionally been among the most underused facilities in America, sitting empty throughout most of the week. There are incredible opportunities for ministries to leverage these assets to both generate sustainable income for the ministry and to serve the needs of the local community — not just on Sundays, but seven days a week.
In recent years, the idea of merging for-profit business on church property has become a hallmark of BGW projects. In many cases, these financially sustainable models can not only pay for themselves and help reduce existing overhead costs, but can also become a true catalyst for ministry growth and community impact.
While there are a number of possibilities for effective business models in churches, child care centers have proven to be the most natural fit for most ministries. BGW currently has more than a dozen church projects in design or construction across 8 states that incorporate a for-profit child care or early learning center.
We recently completed construction on an 18,437 SF multi-venue facility for LifeSpring Community Christian Church in Harrison, OH that features a childcare center hosted by our strategic partner, Lionheart Children’s Academy. The new facility will provide a consistent revenue stream for a space that may otherwise sit unused during the week. The space features a 900 SF Kid Zone with an 18’ tall indoor play structure and offers a safe, state-of-the-art kids wing that will attract and impact families for Christ both on Sundays and throughout the week.
In McKinney, Texas, BGW designed a 30,000 SF worship center for Brookhaven Church that features a premiere childcare center called The Academy at Craig Ranch. The new facility features a 16,800 SF day care facility with an indoor themed play area, outdoor sports court and playground. The childcare center is managed by Nelson Eagle, President of Lionheart Consulting Services, who has organized more than 30 new faith-based child care centers. Since the completion of construction in 2018, the childcare center has experienced tremendous growth and the church is planning to add an additional 10,000 sf.
Brookhaven Senior Pastor Glenn Meredith said, “We didn’t want to build a facility that we would just use for a couple of hours; We wanted to build something that would be a service and a blessing for the community to use all week. We wanted people to look at us and see our church as a place they wanted to come.”
The new 60,000 SF worship facility at Believers Church in Suffolk, VA was designed to accommodate a church-operated child care facility called Oak & Lily Academy that offers programs for ages 6 weeks to 24 months, and preschool classes for ages 2 years old through 4 years old.
The daycare features an indoor playground, children’s activity area and secure access points.The new building also houses Hub 757, and event center which offers flexible function space seven days a week for weddings, banquets, meetings and more daycare has an indoor playground, classrooms and children’s activity area.
BGW has partnered with the Christian professionals at True North Kids to help our ministry clients establish and manage early childhood education centers that serve as vibrant hubs of spiritual growth, academic excellence, and community engagement. If you’re interested in learning more about the potential of opening an early learning center in your church or Christian school, you can get started today with a free First Look Childcare Report, custom made for your church. It includes demographic reports, childcare specific statistics, industry insight, competition data, and socio-economic understanding.
Learn MoreEvery church is unique and there is no “one-size-fits-all solution”. If your ministry is interested in exploring opportunities for repurposing a commercial building or incorporating a child care center into your new or existing facility, we invite you to contact us. We have helped dozens of churches nationwide to develop these kinds of projects and our team of architects, contractors, real estate experts and strategic business partners can assist you in evaluating opportunities and avoiding the potential pitfalls.
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