New Kingdom Halls in Strip Malls & Real Estate Listings

by 4thgen 21 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • neverendingjourney
    neverendingjourney

    This came up in a thread some time back. I suggested it was a money-making operation by the WT. Get free labor to build a commercial space that can be used as a KH for a while and after a few years, it can be more easily sold as a commercial strip mall property than a stand alone building. Build a new strip mall using free labor. Rinse and repeat.

    However, there was another poster who said he had personal experience in commercial real estate and claimed it wasn't an effective money-making model because strip mall properties, according to him, have next to no value.

    So, who knows?

  • Xanthippe
    Xanthippe

    Okay so now I've googled it and found out the KH you're talking about is not in a red light district full of strippers but in a shopping centre!

  • joe134cd
    joe134cd

    Xanthippe = I think our American friends need to explain what a strip mall is for those of us who don't live in the U.S.

  • Xanthippe
    Xanthippe

    Yeah Joe I was a little culture shocked there for a while 😜

  • Vidiot
    Vidiot

    Slumming it, Evangelical Christendom-style...

  • GLTirebiter
    GLTirebiter

    Orphan Crow's links sum it up pretty well. The rental market for space in smaller retail centers is ailing, with high vacancy rates and many complexes failing. The old outlet center near me now has several storefront churches occupying spaces which had been sporting "For Lease" and "Going Out of Business" signs. The landlord is happy to have tenants who pay the rent and don't cause them much trouble, and neighboring business are just glad to see potential customers coming into their retail ghost town very weekend.

  • waton
    waton

    The wt givers are being treated to cheaper venues, The wt collectors, controllers in ever more upscale compounds.

  • Vidiot
    Vidiot

    So...

    ...if the Org is - at the grassroots level - having to pinch its pennies more and more... just where the fuck is all the real estate revenue going?

    Are their legal retainers really that high?

    Or is it all disappearing into numbered accounts in the Caymans in anticipation of something... unpleasant?


  • 4thgen
    4thgen

    I'm not sure where the photo was taken. However, it appeared to be at the end of a row of commercial buildings all connected in a row (thus strip mall*). Actually, it is pretty smart from a business perspective. The old style stand alone halls are apparently hard to sell.After all, isn't it really the WT a business? Credit cards accepted.

    Maybe this link will work better:

    http://www.loopnet.com/locations/jehovahs-witnesses/listings/

    *not stripper mall.

  • RubaDub
    RubaDub

    If the KH is in a "strip mall", I would really doubt that the WT owns the entire property.

    Isn't this more likely just renting/leasing the place (20 year lease or something)?

    Rub a Dub

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