Sale, Ground Lease or Joint Venture: A 137-Year-Old Nashville Church Opens Its Edgehill Campus to Development

• Watson Grove Baptist Church has hired Foundry Commercial to explore options for its Edgehill campus in Nashville.
• The property at 1415 DeFord Bailey Avenue covers about 34,000 square feet on 1.5 acres, with a sanctuary seating more than 700.
• Options include a sale, a ground lease, a joint venture or arrangements that keep the church on site.
• The campus is close to Music Row, Vanderbilt University, Belmont University and downtown Nashville.

A Nashville congregation with deep roots in the Edgehill neighbourhood is weighing the future of its home. The Tennessee Tribune, publishing a release from the church and its adviser, reported that Watson Grove Baptist Church has engaged Foundry Commercial to explore options for its Edgehill campus.

The church was founded in 1889 in Una, Tennessee, and has been in Nashville since the mid-1950s. Its campus at 1415 DeFord Bailey Avenue covers about 34,000 square feet on 1.5 acres, with a multi-level sanctuary seating more than 700, classrooms, offices, a fellowship hall, a full kitchen and a chapel. It sits near Music Row, Vanderbilt and Belmont universities and downtown Nashville. The church, led by Senior Pastor the Rev Dr John Faison Sr, now runs a multi-campus ministry, including a location in Franklin, Tennessee, and an online platform, The Grove Global.

Foundry Commercial senior vice presidents Scott McKinney and Carlin Beekman are advising the church. The options being explored include a sale, a ground lease, a joint venture development or other arrangements that would let the church keep a ministry presence on the site.

Faison said: “Watson Grove has never been a church ONLY; we have always been a church AND.”

Watson Grove is doing what many urban churches will need to do as land values rise around them: looking at the full range of options before choosing one. A ground lease or joint venture can let a church share in the value of its land while keeping a place in the neighbourhood it has served for decades. Jamaican congregations in fast-rising areas of Kingston, St Andrew or Montego Bay should take the same approach, getting professional advice and comparing a sale against leases and partnerships. Staying on site as part of a new development can protect both the church’s mission and its long-term finances.

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