On Saturday, May 31, Attic Treasures, the business across the street on the Wappoo side, closed their business. It is the “Psaras” building that was an antique/consignment store. The owners, Marvin and Julie Sineath have always said they would give JIBC the first right of refusal on the property. Our first meeting with Mr. Sineath was sometime around the middle of May. He was checking on our interest and still deciding if he wanted to sell or lease the building. We were and are absolutely interested in buying the property.
As you know, JIBC is land locked on this small triangle. We are limited in parking and building space. You may remember that we purchased the Transition House years ago with the idea of making it into additional parking space. Since then, we have used it to house Sr. Adults, VBS classes, a family in need, and now, the Transition House. It was a wise purchase with no down side. That is how we feel about this property.
Here are the three things I think you will be most interested in. First, the terms of the agreement requested by Mr. Sineath are $350,000, with $20,000 down, owner financed at 6% for 15 years. We only received the final decision from Mr. Sineath last week. He and Mrs. Sineath have owned this property for decades and he was not sure if he wanted to sell or not. The final decision to sell, I think, was based on his declining health and his desire to see the future of the building in local hands, particularly JIBC. By the way, this is very close to the price we paid for the Transition House.
Second, once Mr. Sineath made the decision to sell, he wanted the transaction done quickly. He is still paying taxes and insurance on an unoccupied building. It is his desire to close on July 1. I tried to schedule closing closer to the church anniversary on July 13…just as a historic and symbolic gesture. He thought that was nice, but needs to close on July 1. That gives us less than a month to decide and act. Not our preference, but our reality.
We will meet with all church leadership on Wednesday, June 18 and present our recommendation to the church on Sunday, June 29 at both services. We would prefer to have a little more notice. That was not an option since there were others buyers waiting. We really do not want much time to go by if you know what I mean. I wish we could keep this completely silent in the community until after the fact.
Third, we will start to build a short term plan (the next two or three years) for the building that will include bringing it up to code. This will give us time to build a long term ministry and mission plan. I can imagine a gathering place for the Youth called The Warehouse, a space for another church family… like the Chinese church, a multi-purpose use facility that could house all our church wide dinners with room for everyone, an indoor place large enough for the Awana ministry, etc, etc, etc. I love to dream. It is not difficult to see how this space could be used.
As Dean Kelly says: “this may be a step of faith or a leap of faith”. Either way, we do believe it is the Lord’s blessings.
Pastor Tom
