GCU spends $21.6 million to buy church near campus

Grand Canyon University has purchased a church near its west Phoenix campus for more than $21 million, property records show.

First Southern Baptist Church of Phoenix, located at 3100 W. Camelback Road, was purchased by GCU for $21.6 million, according to documents filed with the Maricopa County Assessor’s Office.

The church’s location butts up against the southeast corner of GCU’s campus.

GCU plans to build a 200,000square-foot “state-of-the-art building that will house academic classrooms,

laboratories and a research center,” GCU spokesman Bob Romantic said in an email.

The purchase price appears to be higher than market value, likely because of the church’s proximity to the campus.

The assessor’s website shows the full market value for the church as $6.8 million for tax year 2020.

GCU, a private nonprofit Christian university, has rapidly grown its physical campus in west Phoenix as the university’s enrollment both in-person and online has skyrocketed over the past decade.

GCU converted back to nonprofit status in July 2018 after operating as a forprofit school for more than a decade. A for-profit venture affiliated with the university is still around, though, and provides services like marketing, accounting, and human resources to GCU.

The school enrolls about 97,000 students in both online and in-person programs. About 20,000 of those students attend classes on campus.

The campus now features a stadium and arena, and multiple residence halls that have “resort-style swimming pools,” according to GCU’s website. GCU also owns and operates a hotel near campus, as well as a golf course in Maryvale.

The purchase provides “significant benefits for both parties,” Romantic said in an email.

The church will be in a strong financial place to continue its work and impact its community, while GCU will gain a location near the front entrance of campus that will allow it to continue its growth, Romantic said.

“While there was interest from other third parties in this property, GCU is fortunate that is in a strong position financially to continue to expand its campus without passing those costs on to students through increases in tuition on the Phoenix campus — which have been frozen for 11 straight years,” Romantic said.

Church has one year to move

Steve Hayes, a pastor at the church, said the sale closed on July 1. The church has a lease-back agreement with the university for one year, so services won’t be moved yet, he said.

The church previously sold nine acres of its land to GCU about a decade ago, he said. The university has long been interested in the church’s property because of its location, he said.

The money will allow the church to relocate and create some endowments for causes that serve its mission, he said.

“It was good for us, and they need it,” Hayes said.