$300,000 Cash for a Former Strip Club’s Land: How a Slavic Immigrant Church Secured Its Mortgage

• Grace Trinity Church in Sacramento serves mainly Russian and Ukrainian immigrant families
• It paid $300,000 cash for a former strip club’s land valued at $600,000
• The land provided equity for an $800,000 mortgage
• The new church was planned to seat up to 400

An immigrant congregation in California has bought the site of a former strip club for its new church campus, AG News reported in February 2017.

Grace Trinity Church in Sacramento draws mainly from Russian and Ukrainian immigrant communities, including families who left the former Soviet Union because of poor economic conditions or religious persecution. It is one of the largest members of the Assemblies of God’s National Slavic District, which includes 52 churches of mainly Slavic heritage.

The church’s building programme centred on a 13,000-square-foot main building. Obtaining the $800,000 mortgage for it depended on buying the property of the former City Limits Showgirls strip club, which had operated for 20 years. The church was willing to pay $300,000 in cash for the land, valued at $600,000, which would serve as additional equity for the mortgage. The new facility was planned to include a 400-seat sanctuary, 108 parking spaces and a multipurpose hall for youth ministries and childcare.

Church administrator Pavel Kut described the land deal: “It was a miracle. And it strengthened my faith and kept me from worrying about the rest of the building program.” Pastor Aleksandr Kalinyuk explained the church’s focus on young families: “We tried to focus more on the younger generation and took a very personal interest working with these families.”

The story shows how a lender looks at a church project. Buying land below its value created equity, and that equity made the mortgage possible. Parking and space for children’s work also add to a church site’s long-term value.

Jamaican congregations in the diaspora, and at home, often build with a mix of savings and borrowing. Owning land outright, especially land bought below market value, strengthens any loan application. Before approaching a lender, a church should know what its property is worth and how much equity it can offer.

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