Online Archives

BY BYRON P. BROUGHT
Special to the UMConnection

A Baltimore-Washington Conference task force is recommending the purchase of a parcel of land for a new Conference Center in the Maple Lawn Development off of Route 216 in Howard County.

In an effort to practice good stewardship, the lease on the current site would be extended.

These recommendations come after several months of research as the the 13-member task force met to consider various issues related to obtaining a new Conference Center.

Among these issues have been location, accessibility, costs, lease versus purchase, a church campus or a separate site, travel time for staff and visitors to and from the location, stewardship of Conference resources, and how the Conference Center can uphold and advance our values and mission.

Task Force members interviewed representatives from two commercial realtors and they received proposals from each. We selected MacKenzie Professional Real Estate Services and entered into an exclusive representation agreement with them.

The task force is recommending that MacKenzie continue to be the conference's agent in future negotiations.

There is no cost to the Conference for the preliminary services; that compensation will come from the seller or the landlord of the property the conference obtains.

The task force next hired Rubeling & Associates to conduct a Space Utilization Study. Rebecca Arnold and Sandra Sawicki interviewed numerous staff, completed the study and made recommendations to the conference. They determined that 28,575 square feet of space was needed for the Conference Center. In our current site we lease 34,000 square feet.

Regarding the location for a new site, the Task Force determined the site should be located between the beltways, reasonably close to the I-95 corridor, Route 29, or the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. The site should provide easy accessibility, be close to amenities and have adequate parking for staff and visitors. Environmental considerations should be taken into account if a building is purchased or constructed.

Following these decisions, the Task Force considered a campus setting for the Conference Center, which involved sharing space or land with a church. Sites in the Interfaith Ministry in Columbia were considered and a close examination was given to purchasing land currently owned by Glen Mar UMC.

The Rev. Debbie Scott presented a paper in which numerous issues around sharing space with a congregation, both pro and con, were considered. After several discussions and a tour of the Glen Mar site, task force members learned that only 1.5 acres of "buildable space" were available at Glen Mar, not a four-acre parcel we had anticipated. Glen Mar and the Task Force decided not to pursue this option.

With direction from MacKenzie, the Task Force considered nineteen possible sites for lease (including the present site) and nine sites to purchase an existing building or construct a new building.

From these possible sites, the Task Force selected nine for further discussion and made tours of the locations.

Task Force members had extensive conversation regarding leasing vs. purchase.

The advantage of leasing includes flexibility to obtain more or less space as needed and not having the responsibility of major repairs or improvements to the facility or grounds.

The advantage of purchase includes gaining equity over time and some savings on taxes (tax is included in a lease agreement; as a church we would not pay tax on property the conference owned.)

The Task Force decided to recommend that a site be purchased.

One such site the Task Force visited is at Maple Lawn, a development just off MD Route 216, about nine-and one-half miles from both Baltimore and Washington beltways.

The development is offering to sell the conference approximately 1.64 acres of land adjacent to the retail area of the development. The parking lot is already in place on a "cross parking easement" basis. This means that 130 parking spaces would be part of our purchase and the conference would share an additional 1,500 spaces adjacent to the site.

Chris Bennett from MacKenzie estimates that the land purchase would be approximately $1,230,000 and the "turnkey" total cost would be about $6.5 million. There would be approximately $90,000 in common usage fees per year, which include parking lot maintenance, snow removal and use of the common area.

It is estimated that it would take approximately two years to obtain necessary permits and construct a building. The current owner, Stewart Greenebaum, will provide the construction if desired, or the conference can obtain its own architect and contractor.

The recommendations of the task force on the new conference center are expected to be discussed at the adjourned session of the 224th Annual Conference, which will be held Jan. 17 at Metropolitan Memorial UMC in Washington.