“Foreclosing on God”

Miami Herald:

A veil of white dust covers the organ, the pulpit and the pews at the Grand Lutheran Church in Fort Lauderdale, a house of God bought by developers who planned to raze it for townhouses.

Three years later, the steeple and stained glass still stand, and the developers are desperate to sell the church at 1801 NE 13th St. In a last-ditch marketing bid, they recently pitched signs that say, more or less, “buy this church or we’ll bulldoze it in 29 days.”

“I don’t want to say it was a mistake, but churches are very difficult deals to move,” said Danny Koplowitz, an investor in the property now listed for $3.25 million.

In South Florida’s bleak real-estate market, houses for sale aren’t the only glut. Churches and other religious properties, some of them bank foreclosures, are plentiful, and stuck in a commercial purgatory. Potential buyers — mainly other churches — are being shunned by lenders due to dwindling collection-plate revenues and fears of having to “foreclose on God” if the economy deteriorates further.

Why?

Like homes and businesses, churches were also beneficiaries of the surge in lending during the boom years. Heavy borrowing that went to expand or create daycare centers, schools and community centers has come to haunt many churches now mired in red ink.

“There is a whole industry of church finance consultants, and when money was easy, there were a lot of people out there encouraging congregations to go to the next level, if you will,” said the Rev. Russell Meyer, executive director of the Florida Council of Churches and a Lutheran pastor. “They pretty much operated under the argument, ` If you build it they will come,’ which is just not true.”

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