Christian Retailing

LifeWay taking offers on Nashville venue Print Email
Written by Shawn A. Akers   
Thursday, 15 January 2015 10:57 AM America/New_York

Lifeway-Christian-resourcesFollowing up on its disclosure last summer that it might be willing to sell all or part of its 15-acre downtown Nashville campus, LifeWay Christian Resources has announced that it is accepting offers for the facility, the Nashville Tennessean reported this week.

In a letter sent to its employees, LifeWay CEO Thom Rainer said once the sale proposals come in, “We’ll then begin an involved process of studying, comparing, and considering any offers we receive. I’m pleased to share with you the results of the feasibility study were favorable enough for us to take another step.”

The company conducted a study this year—the results of which were released five months ago—to determine the feasibility of selling a part of or all of the Nashville facility, which includes nine buildings and over 1 million square feet of office, warehouse and parking space in the downtown area.

In the letter, Rainer explained to employees that LifeWay, the publishing arm of the Southern Baptist Convention, needs only about one-third of that space and that the company is looking for potential sites on which to build a new facility, the Tennessean reported. The letter also cited talks with local, regional and national entities that are interested in the venue.

“You may have noticed a LifeWay team escorting small groups of visitors through the building, seemingly interested in every facet of what they were seeing,” Rainer said in the employee letter. “They were probably potential buyers.”

The Tennessean reported that LifeWay is forecasting a two-year time frame between the sale of the current campus and the move to a new location.

“Right now we’re looking at several pieces of property in the downtown area that would be potential sites for us to build a new LifeWay building,” Rainer said. “We need a workplace designed to support the technologies, collaboration and culture needed for today’s and tomorrow’s successful national and international ministry. This could be a wonderful opportunity to build a new facility designed specifically for the ministries we provide now and in the future.”