A new self-storage facility is being built on a contested former church property in Richmond, Va. Mini Price Storage purchased the 2.6-acre lot for $850,000 last year from SP Five Properties LLC, but the land is part of a 17-parcel property that Richmond Christian Center, now in bankruptcy, allegedly sold by mistake.
The Christian center sold the 17 parcels in 2011 for $180,000 to Stephen Parson Jr., acting as SP Five Properties, according to the source. Parson is the son of the center’s pastor. According to court filings, the church meant to sell only a small parcel, not the entire lot. The property was recently assessed a value of $1.28 million, the source reported.
The land has been part of a legal battle between the church and lender Foundation Capital Resources (FCR), a company specializing in mortgage financing to churches and ministries. FCR won a federal-court injunction barring Parson from disposing of more than $370,000 of the sale’s proceeds. A trial is scheduled to begin this month in which FCR will try to recoup money to help pay down the church’s $2 million debt, according to the source.
FCR originally sued Parson, SP Five Properties and a limited-liability company run by Mini Price Storage to try to win back the land or the proceeds of Parson’s deal with the self-storage company. Mini Price was dismissed as a defendant in August when FCR determined the operator would likely succeed in defending the land purchase as a good-faith transaction made without knowledge of the conflict over the deal between Parson and the church center, the source reported.
Richmond Christian Center in currently in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, but FCR has requested its status be converted to Chapter 7 liquidation. A hearing on that request is scheduled for Sept. 26.
In the meantime, Mini Price has reportedly received $5 million in building permits and cleared the area in preparation for its construction. Michael D. Sifen Inc. of Virginia Beach, Va., will serve as the project’s contractor, according to the source.
Mini Price Storage operates several locations in Norfolk, Va., and the Richmond area.
Sources:
- Richmond BizSense: Construction Starts on Contested Church Lot
