The move of Harvest Bible Chapel in Naperville from rented high school space into a vacant office building on High Point Road along the I-88 corridor in Naperville is the latest example of a suburban church locating in a former commercial building.

The concept is spreading throughout the suburbs as newly formed and growing congregations search for the best value for their real estate dollars.

They are finding the value in office buildings, warehouses and former stand-alone retail buildings after looking in some cases at hundreds of properties.

There can be conflicts with local governments and business organizations, but parking and other concerns are worked out in some cases. In other cases there are lawsuits.

Other examples include:

• Wheaton Christian Center moving into a former stand-alone retail building on North Avenue in Carol Stream between Schmale and Bloomingdale roads to expand its worship space to 100,000 square-feet but also to open a school and other ministries such as one for single mothers.
• Willow Creek Church in McHenry County locating in 56,000 square- feet on Exchange Drive in Crystal Lake in a former warehouse building and office space.
• Harvest Bible Chapel selecting 200,000 square-feet in a former office complex in Elgin on Randall Road south of I-90. That facility is what church officials describe as an extension of the main original campus in Rolling Meadows where the church was started in an abandoned warehouse. This fall a newly constructed worship center was opened next to the office complex in Elgin.

“Several other church plants by Harvest Bible Chapel in Chicago suburbs and in other states will look at commercial buildings while they currently meet in local high schools,” said Ken Shaw, a pastor at the main campus. “A church plant in Davenport, Iowa, is currently meeting in an abandoned warehouse of one of the electronics companies. The idea is to get the best price for a place where a church can meet. Often it is cheaper to go into an existing building.”

Wayne Alguire, campus pastor for Willow Creek McHenry, said criteria for a site for the church had been established.

“We wandered in the wilderness for two years looking at about 150 sites before we found one that met five criteria: affordable, accessible, not too close to the main church in Barrington, high enough interior space for our video projection of Bible teaching from the main campus and parking for 500 to 600 vehicles.”

The congregation in Crystal Lake rented 35,000 square-feet of space for which there was a grand opening in June 2005. When it outgrew that space, an additional 22,000-square-feet was opened last year.

“We have a five-year lease,” Alguire said. “Our intention is to stay as long as we can, but some day we may outgrow that space. But that is a few years away.”

He added that these types of buildings are part of a trend in which churches do not start out with stained glass windows.

“People start out in small spaces like a meeting room of a big restaurant, a hotel suite, or a school with an auditorium.”

Some churches remain relatively small in the 200 person range or up to 500 attendees, according to attorney Richard Baker, a partner in the Chicago firm of Mauck & Baker who represents churches.

“The lesson for all sized churches and for local governments is to work together and be sensitive to each other’s needs.”

John Mauck said that the majority of new churches are primarily looking for transitional properties not in the center of commercial development. In addition to some office buildings, those types of properties can include other economically obsolete parcels such as small shopping centers or old grocery stores.

“It is almost impossible to find 3, 4, 5, or 6-acre parcels in many suburbs to construct new churches,” he said. “There are some undeveloped land pockets in some suburbs.

“In the last few years the exodus of some small manufacturers to China and Mexico has created vacancies in nice buildings which have great parking. The only thing lacking is visibility for churches which would locate in those types of buildings.”

But no matter what type of location is being sought by churches, there can be a lot of resistance from some municipalities and local business organizations, according to Mauck.

“Some people are insensitive to the needs of churches.”

He mentioned the example of Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Evanston, which was denied a zoning variance for a long-vacant office building. A court decision eventually allowed the group to use that space.

However, churches can have a good relationship with the local government.

“We have a great relationship with the Village of Carol Stream,” said

James E. Ward Jr., building development manager for Wheaton Christian Center Church. “We have transformed an eyesore building into one which provides many benefits to the community.

“In addition to the main worship center, we have a bookstore, coffee shop, gymnasium and classrooms for 30 students in the Carol Stream Christian Academy for children from pre-school to sixth grade. We minister to every aspect of people’s lives.

“We are planning a ministry to people who want to start a business. We have room to do more since we have only remodeled about 45 percent of the space.”

Ward cited a similar ministry in Forest Park where the Living Word Christian Center has transformed a dilapidated shopping center with various ministries led by Pastor Bill Winston.

“There is definitely a trend to deal with the entire Kingdom of God as Jesus did in reaching out to the community, and not just providing religious services within the walls of a building.”

A church in a commercial building can also provide economic benefits to the community as Harvest Bible Chapel in Naperville will do, according to Mike Clancy, executive pastor for the worship center which opened this fall.

“The product we produce is people with changed lives which will benefit the community,” he said “We also bring thousands of people who will eat in local restaurants and shop in retail stores.”

He said there is little economic benefit for an office building which had remained vacant after Lucent built its own facilities nearby. Furthermore, the new Freedom Blvd. interchange on I-88 and the new Freedom Commons restaurant and retail space (see story in a previous edition of The Business Ledger) creates what Clancy called an island for the office building.

So, Harvest Bible Chapel members worked with city officials to rezone the property to allow an institutional use such as a church and produce what he called a creative redevelopment. Part of the creativity was the church working out with the adjacent Holiday Inn Select an agreement to let hotel guests park in the church lot during the week and church attendees to park in the hotel lot during the weekend.

The move by Harvest Bible Chapel is an exception to the rule that commercial and office property should continue that use because there is stronger economic development with a for-profit business, according to Mike Skarr, president and CEO of the Naperville Chamber of Commerce.

“It depends on the location and the timing,” he said. “There can be exceptions to the general rule.”