Church seeks a savior
Inaccurate records slow deals on historic Midtown buildings
Two Midtown landmark properties purchased by California investors a decade ago are in receivership and brokers are sorting through records they say are missing and “inaccurate” as they prepare to seek purchase bids.
When investors led by Avraham Shemuelian purchased the former First Church of Christ-Scientist at 1200 N Robinson, they promised to "bring it back to its former glory.”
That revival never happened and starting in 2014 Shemuelian was battling with partners in court over financial records and collection of rent at the neighboring Stryker Building at 1141 N Robinson Ave.
Cordell Brown and Derek James with Price Edwards & Co., say they also are talking with tenants as they examine “handshake deals” that were apparently part of doing business at the properties. Ford Price, also with Price Edwards, was appointed as a receiver after the owners were found to be in default of their loan agreements with RCB Bank.
“The rent roll was not up to date, so we’re having to go back and confirm and even determine what square footage is actually occupied,” Brown said. “They were either nonexistent in leases or inaccurate.”
The receivership leaves continued questions about the fate of the church, which will be sold with the Stryker building and a parking lot as one bundled package.
Downtown decline
Both buildings were once part of a thriving “church row” that existed along Robinson Avenue.
The church, built in phases between 1914 and 1918, is best known for its Classical Revival facade with four Greek columns facing Robinson Avenue. The interior includes a 1,000-squarefoot foyer and 4,000 square feet of open space that once held church classrooms. Above is the 5,000-square-foot sanctuary, the remnants of a balcony and a tall cupolaed ceiling.
The Stryker Building, meanwhile, was originally built in the late 1940s as the home for the Oklahoma Baptist Convention with a gift shop on the ground floor and presses for the Baptist
Messenger in the basement.
The church was abandoned by its congregation in 1988 as churches throughout the urban core left for the suburbs. The Baptists sold their headquarters in 1990 as they too left for the suburbs at a time when downtown was in steep decline.
Shemuelian, based in Los Angeles, said Tuesday he had ample opportunities to develop the church, and still hopes to resolve the mortgage default and regain control of the properties. He did not dispute
the concerns raised by brokers at Price Edwards.
“The partnership issues were more complicated than the properties in terms of management and income,” Shemuelian said. “We’re looking to cure the defaults and continue ownership.”
The Price Edwards group, meanwhile, is proceeding with plans to seek purchase bids for the properties by year's end. A fourth property placed into receivership with Price, the Beasley Apartments at 901 NW 13, is being marketed by Price Edwards broker David Dirkschneider.
The property contains 14 apartment units, adjoining parking and is 85 percent leased. Price said he
expects the apartments, which have fewer complications, will be put to bid first.
Work to be done
The church and office building both have original ornate finishes but will need investment and updates.
“The interior at Stryker is really pretty, Art Deco, marble,” Brown said. “The tenant restored the auditorium to the original look. But anytime you take on a building like that, you need to address ADA requirements, restrooms, mechanical, the elevators. You need to address the guts of the building for serviceable space.”
The church, meanwhile, has questions from deed restrictions the brokers hope to resolve this week. When Shemuelian bought the church in 2007, he agreed to the placement of a deed restriction on exterior changes to the property that was placed by the Oklahoma City Foundation for Architecture, a nonprofit group that had previously bought the landmark in an effort to save it.
The brokers say they need to resolve whether the deed restriction will allow for the addition of an elevator tower, access ramps and windows on the alley facade of the church.
Architect Anthony McDermid, who represented
the foundation, said their intent was not to block adding disability access and updating the building.
“The deed restrictions were purely inserted to prevent the building from being demolished,” McDermid said. “At one time, a local business owner was contemplating buying it and tearing it down for parking.”
Modifications like adding windows to the alley wall, he added, would be decided by the city’s Downtown Design Review Committee.
Parking for the properties, meanwhile, is being included in the bid package but is limited. The church has 24 parking spaces on
a north parking lot. The Stryker building comes with six attached parking spaces. A parking lot between the two buildings has 62 spaces, but is set to lose up to 14 of those spaces due to construction of an Oklahoma City Streetcar stop. The brokers believe the properties will be attractive to buyers due to the proximity of the streetcar along with the ongoing momentum in Midtown.
“We’ve talked to several people who like the buildings,” Jones said. “But the church is a challenge for repositioning as office, or mix of retail or restaurant. It doesn’t have a lot of space for the cost of the conversion.”