Near the corner of Western and Adams sits a vacant fire station owned by the city of Los Angeles. It's a beautiful historic building that has been unused since 2004. Three years ago, Redeemer Community Partnership submitted a proposal to purchase and renovate it for community use. The building has space to house our tutoring program, weekly youth group meetings, rehearsals and performances by Streetlamp Studio, community group gatherings and accommodations for work project volunteers. It also has a small parking lot and a beautiful patio shaded by sycamore trees and a wisteria-covered arbor. After a lengthy and (frankly) exhausting process, the city eventually turned down all three of the leading proposals, of which ours was considered the strongest. The building was boarded up and became an agenda item for neighborhood groups concerned about drug-dealing, prostitution and vandalism occurring around the property.
Yesterday the city released a new Request for Proposals to purchase this property. The original asking price of $760,000 has been reduced to $316,000. The process will be managed by the Community Redevelopment Agency. Proposals are due December 14th, following a Pre-Submittal Conference on November 18th.
We have many, many questions about whether to pursue this opportunity. Purchasing and renovating property poses challenges under any circumstances. The current economic climate, the historical nature of the building and city politics add extra complexity. But our programs are experiencing more and more growing pains at our current facility. Since RCP's September board meeting we have been praying earnestly for God to provide us with a more stable, physical "home." Could he be leading us back to this beautiful but complicated possibility?
Would you pray for God to guide our steps over the next couple weeks as we decide what to do?
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