523 Investors, $467 Each: Crowdfunding Turns a BC Interior Church Into Eight Apartments

• Oliver United Church in BC’s interior is being converted into eight apartments
• The 7,000-square-foot church was bought in 2022 for $550,000
• 523 people had invested $244,000 through the addy platform
• The congregation leases the space until March 2027

A church in Oliver, in British Columbia’s southern interior, is being turned into rental apartments with money raised from hundreds of small investors, the Penticton Herald reported in July 2023.

Oliver United Church, a 7,000-square-foot building, was acquired in 2022 for $550,000. The developer behind the project is Rogers Management Group of Chilliwack, and the plan is to create eight residential units. Construction on the first six was expected to start later in 2023, with the remaining two to follow after the congregation’s lease ends on 31 March 2027.

The project needed $600,000 in capital. By 13 July 2023, 523 people had invested $244,000 through the crowdfunding platform addy, with investments from $1 to $2,500 and an average of $467. Capital-raising costs were forecast at $30,000, and addy membership costs $50.

“We’ve got thousands and thousands of Canadians on the platform and we know they’re interested in investing in opportunities that maybe the financial outcome is not they’re No. 1 reason,” said addy founder Stephen Jagger. “So, you’re choosing to make less money, but you’re doing the right thing from a societal point of view.” Jeff Klam, a partner at Rogers Management Group, said: “We both have children, and in this market it’s harder and harder to get into real estate.”

Oliver shows how small investors can fund the conversion of a church into homes while the congregation keeps worshipping there. Jamaican diaspora investors, who often want to put money into projects at home, could use similar crowdfunding models to finance housing on church land, provided the legal and financial safeguards are in place.

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