Home Stretch!

Over the past few months, a tremendous amount of activity has transpired that has led to us being almost ready to occupy our building! We still have a few details to address, but the major issues have been resolved--particularly our water supply. So we will be able to have Shawn Young's installation service on the 16th of January, and our first worship service will likely be sometime in late January (official date to be announced soon).

We will be holding several work days over the next couple of weeks to get the property ready to use. The Interior renovations are almost complete.

Let us all give thanks to God for blessing His church and guiding us through this process. And may His kingdom continue to be established through Cornerstone Church of Castle Rock!

Please check out all the new pictures uploaded on the site!

Town Council meeting set for August 24th

We have finally gotten a date for our Town Council meeting. We originally planned on sometime in July, and the actual date is now August 24th (Tues). The bad news is that it took so long, but the good news is that we are moving forward. Everyone is encouraged to attend this meeting with the Town!

The meeting date was precipitated by the finalization of the Development Agreement Amendment document. The previous owners of this property had an arrangement with the Town that they would not need to connect to city water/sewer until the year 2005. Well that date came and the Town did not enforce the provisions. However, they did make it clear that any new owners would have to agree to connect to the city utilities. One of those potential owners was Cornerstone Church, as we considered purchasing this property in 2008. However the purchase price was still high, and connection costs could easily run into the multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars. Therefore we did not make an offer on the site.

Fast forward a couple of years, and we are close to getting Town approval to occupy the property without having to immediately connect to city utilities. This is what will be hopefully formally approved on August 24th. However we will need to connect to those utilities when we expand and build on the property, which by God's grace we will be able to do in the not too distant future. But this gives us time to save, plan, and continue to ask God's blessing upon us.

Stay tuned for more information over the next few weeks. We are very hopeful that the Town will approve the D.A. amendment, and and that time we will need to drill a new well and gain a certificate of occupancy. The certificate of occupancy will have to be accompanied by an Engineer's report on both the well and septic systems verifying that they can handle the anticipate workload. And there is much work to be done both inside and outside the buildings before we can move in. Looks like it might be almost time to roll up our sleeves and actually get to work!

May God continue to bless us and establish His Kingdom in and through us. And may this future home of His church body serve to proclaim His Excellencies throughout our community and the world!

Purchase Completed!

Today, Cornerstone Church of Castle Rock completed the purchase of 2607 5th St.!

The total funds needed to close this transaction were $276,000. The church took out a loan for $100,000 through First Bank, and the remainder was paid with cash. Payments on the loan will commence 6/1/10.

There is still much to be done in order to move in and occupy the property. Most important, we have to get the new Development Agreement amendment completed and approved by the Town Council. This process was started a couple of weeks ago, and the final document should be ready in the next few weeks. We hope to bring it before the Town Council sometime in early to mid-June. The Council is slated to meet each Tuesday, but historically they end up meeting about 2-3 times per month. The Development Agreement will stipulate what has to be done before we can occupy the property. We want to have that in place before we begin major projects on the grounds (new well installation, landscaping, etc...)

Please continue to pray for the remaining events to unfold in a way that will best establish God's church in our community!

Update--Sun, April 11th, 2010

We were able to extend the due diligence window by one week, which gave us time to further explore issues surrounding water. Basically, there are forms to fill out with the state that will change our use from 'domestic' to 'commercial', and will also allow us to drill a new well onsite. We are currently working with the property owners to complete paperwork (should be completed Monday), at which point we will take downtown to Denver to file with the appropriate state agency. All in all, we are confident that we will be able to have a functional water and sewer system upon occupancy of the property (estimated to be Summer 2010).

All the inspection reports we have ordered are completed and have come back favorable. There is going to be plenty of work to do, but structurally the buildings and land look very sound.

This coming week, we will turn our attention to the Development Agreement amendment process. This is the document that will stipulate, in a legally binding format, how and when the property will be 'redeveloped.' We will be working with an agency of the Town, the Development Planning Committee, who makes recommendations to the Town Council regarding development, building code, etc...The Planning Committee has agreed to amend the existing Agreement so that we will not have to connect to Town water/sewer services until we build new buildings on site. This process will likely take around 6 weeks, and Cornerstone will have legal representation to help us in this process with the Town. After that, the Town Council has to approve, and a likely scenario at this point is that we could be on the agenda for the June 1st meeting (the Council only meets every few weeks). However, things could go more quickly or also take longer depending on other variables.

There is a chance that the Town could allow us to build a relatively small structure (for example a 2,000 sf worship hall) without triggering the redevelopment costs. This is a major item for prayer. Just as Nehemiah approached the King and received everything he asked for (Nehemiah 2: 1-9), we will be approaching the Town with specific requests. May God grant us these requests, and even more...according to His will and good purposes for us. Not to us, but to Him be the glory!! (Psalm 115:1)

Land in Castle Rock

As we move forward with purchase of this property, it is interesting to consider the costs of land in Castle Rock. In general, even in the midst of a down economy, raw land is running from $6 to $18 per square foot. An acre of land is 43,500 square feet. So one acre will cost anywhere from $261,000 to $783,000. The price ($270,000) we negotiated with the sellers of 2607 5th St. comes out to be $2.94 per square foot, and that is just for the land. There is also 4,500 square feet of building space on site.

Another important financial consideration is that this property is already zoned for church use. In Castle Rock, changing the zoning of a property can cost tens of thousands of dollars and a lot of administrative work. So being already zoned for church use is a big advantage.

Update--Sat, April 3rd, 2010

Here is an overview of some of the findings from the due diligence investigations this week:

1. The General Inspection was completed on Thursday. In general, everything looked as good as could be expected. There were some minor issues with plumbing and electrical, but can likely be fixed at minimal cost. The roof on the main building is fairly new and in great shape. Obviously there is a lot of cosmetic work to be done, but there does not seem to be anything major in terms of repairs or improvements that will be needed.

2. The Septic system was also inspected on Thursday. It is a 2,500 gallon tank, and everything looks to be operational with this unit.

3. On Friday, Kumar and Associates in Denver conducted a soil sample test. 4 holes were bored at various points on the property to determine how fit the land is to build and expand. We should have preliminary results on Monday. The key question we need answered is can we build other buildings (especially a sanctuary) on the land?

4. The church received some excellent, in depth legal counsel this week concerning the purchase agreement, title work and other issues.

5. Much investigation was conducted regarding water. Currently the property has a well and septic system instead of city water and sewer services. Our purchase agreement (contract) includes the existing well permit. However, the well has not been producing potable water and city will not allow occupancy without it. So we either have to fix the existing well, or drill a new one. We may be able to fix the existing well by replacing the pump (which is substantially cheaper than drilling a new well). If we have to drill a new well, we will need to secure an expansion permit. It looks as though this will be straightforward in terms of getting the paperwork and approvals from the state agency. Early next week we will be working with the state, a well drilling company, and a pump installation company to determine what else we need to do to make sure we have potable well water upon occupancy.

6. We received a statement from the town's Development Planning Committee outlining the proposed changes to the current Development Agreement. These changes include not having new owners tap into city water and sewer lines until 'redevelopment' occurs. We are going to lobby the Town to define 'redevelopment' as anything over a 2,000 square foot structure. This is the existing language of the Development Agreement that was approved in 1990. However, that agreement also stated that the current ownership group (which bought the property in 1986) had to connect to city water/sewer by 2005. The Town has agreed to lift the date restrictions and allow occupancy of the existing buildings which are serviced by septic and well; however we are not yet clear as to whether or not we will be able to get the Town Council to allow us to make small expansions without connecting to Town water/sewer. But we have a high degree of confidence that at minimum we will be able to occupy and use the existing 4,500 square feet of building space.

7. On Friday, we requested an extension of the due diligence window. Currently we have until Tuesday to get all the information we need. However, we still have some outstanding items that we want to pursue further. We anticipate that the purchase agreement will be amended to extend the diligence window for at least one week.

Please continue to pray for this process. Above all, pray that any buildings and land our church might be able to purchase would further the establishing of God's kingdom in Castle Rock. We don't want to have property for the sake of having property; rather, we want to pursue property as a means to and end--the end meaning God's glory (1 Cor 10:31). May God use us to boldly proclaim the Gospel and make mature disciples of Christ in our community and to the ends of the earth.

Due Diligence Window

Today, Monday 3/29, begins the 10 day due diligence window for inspection of the property. There are many things to investigate, including:

• The conditions of the 2 buildings, including roofing, heat/ac, plumbing, lead based paint and asbestos, and many other items that are covered during a general inspection.
• The well. Currently it is not supplying potable water, which is a requirement for a certificate of occupancy (CO). We will either need to drill a new well or extend the existing one. There are other aspects of the current well permit that need to be investigated as well.
• Septic system. Since the location does not have access to city water/sewer, those service will be provided by well and septic. We want to ensure those systems are fully functional and adequate for our planned usage.
• The soil. We want to make sure the soil is adequate to build on in future years.
• The current Annexation Agreement. The current agreement required the existing ownership group to connect to city water/sewer services by 2005. The Town has agreed to modify the Agreement so that no one has to connect to city water/sewer until they build a new building on site that is greater than 2,000 square feet. This is a very important document and we want to gain as much confidence as possible that the new Agreement will be favorable towards our purposes. We have had conversations already with the Town Council and the Town's Development Planning group that makes recommendations to the Council. They want the property to be back in use, as it has sat dormant and unattended now for a long period of time. Therefore they are working to lift previous Town restrictions that have precluded anyone from purchasing this property (it has been on the market for at least 2 years).
• Architectural and Interior Design. We want to ensure that we can make the buildings both usable and aesthetically acceptable, on the inside and outside. Further, we want to consider well in advance what kind of layout would be best for future expansion. For instance, if we wanted to expand the current parking lot, how should we best do this in light of a future Sanctuary location? Same thing goes for where the well and septic systems are located on the property.

Other items we will be investigating:

• Cost estimates. One of the downsides of purchasing property at distressed prices is that the premises is usually distressed to some degree. Our situation is no different, though at first glance there does not seem to be any major structural issues or damage to the buildings. However we will want to account for all the costs involved. There are 2 main categories of costs:

1. Property Costs. This includes any costs involved in modifying or improving the existing grounds and property. We have made some initial projections, but this will become much more detailed if we proceed with the purchase after the 10 day diligence window. But at this point we can begin to look into free quotes and bids on work that will need to be completed. Potential costs for well, septic, and a/c systems, along with playground equipment, are just a few examples.

2. Closing/Administrative Costs. This includes other costs associated with the actual purchase of the property. Closing costs are always part of any real estate transaction, but we also have our own legal fees and fees associated with working with the Town. Some of the more common closing costs include title insurance costs (which protects both the owners and the bank from liens or ownership issues from years past), loan origination fees, and prepaid items such as property insurance. These costs are a little easier to identify and plan for when compared with the property costs, but in both cases we want to be detailed in our cost analysis.

Your thoughts, comments, suggestions, and concerns are most welcome and appreciated. Please respond to any of these postings, or you can email the church through our main website.