$1.6 Million, With One Condition: The Buyer Must Tear the 1926 Chapel Down

• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints listed its Wells Ward chapel in Salt Lake City for $1.6 million.
• The buyer must demolish the building, which was built in 1926 for $45,000 and can seat up to 1,000.
• The chapel was badly damaged in the March 2020 earthquake and had been empty for three years.
• The one-acre site at 1990 S. 500 E. is zoned for single-family homes.

A nearly century-old chapel in Salt Lake City has been put up for sale on terms that alarmed preservationists. Building Salt Lake reported that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was selling its Wells Ward chapel with one requirement: the buyer must demolish it.

The chapel at 1990 S. 500 E., in the Liberty Wells neighbourhood, was built in October 1926 at a cost of $45,000 and can hold up to 1,000 people. It was severely damaged in the March 2020 earthquake and had stood empty for three years. The asking price was $1.6 million for the one-acre property, which is zoned R-1-5000 for single-family homes.

Architect Warren Lloyd of Lloyd Architects said: “I don’t understand their requirement to demolish the building.” City Council member Darin Mano said: “My goal, and what I heard from the community, was the preservation of the structure itself.” The church and its CBRE listing agents did not respond to requests for comment.

The sale shows how an owner can shape what happens to a building even after selling it. By making demolition a condition, the church ensured that the chapel would not survive in other hands, whatever the neighbours or the council preferred.

Conditions attached to church sales, whether a requirement to demolish, a ban on certain uses or a right of first refusal, can have a major effect on value and on the community. Jamaican churches selling property should think carefully about which conditions they want and why, and buyers should read them closely. Earthquake damage adds a further lesson for Jamaica, which also sits in an earthquake zone: older masonry churches may need structural assessment and strengthening, and damage that is not repaired can quickly turn a landmark into a demolition site.

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