I would argue that these churches would be better off renting/leasing access to their holdings than selling them, as with the local branch of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
If a developer is willing to pay $55M…
Pastor Audrey Warren provides a window into the future of First Miami Presbyterian church. In 2018, three years into her tenure as pastor of the nearby First United Methodist, she helped arrange the sale of her church’s original 1.15-acre property, just one mile north of First Miami, for $55m.
…how much could a church get from a 99 year lease? If 3 acres in Seattle’s hottest location sold for $150M — after an offer of $1.1B over 99 years was rejected — could that location command a similar rental income of $330M/acre over that same term? Back of the envelope calculations of $330M over that term means $800,000 a year in rental paid but $3.4M annualized rental income (take the total and divide by the years of the lease term…I assumed the same 2.5% annual increase though in So Fla that might not hold water [ouch]). Lowering that to a more conservative 1% means $1,355,986 annually. So 40 years in, the fee simple sale price is met and the remaining 49 years are gravy.
And this may not be the last time we read stories like this…
Other than the federal government, religious organizations are the largest owners of real estate in the country