Former church offers redevelopment opportunity
A redevelopment opportunity at a large church site in Coventry is expected to have property investors lining up to bid at auction later this month.
The former St Columba’s United Reformed Church, located on the outskirts of Coventry city centre, will have a guide price of £200,000 plus.
Ian Tudor, joint managing director auctions at Bond Wolfe, explained that St Columba’s was once a busy church, community centre and homeless help point, operating as a night shelter for six years, but that it closed in 2020 due to a dwindling congregation and has stood empty ever since.
Tudor said: “The property includes a former church building that consists of the main church hall, a meeting room, kitchen and prayer room together with a number of additional ground and first floor rooms.
“It now offers a significant city centre redevelopment opportunity for a variety of alternative uses including residential, offices, student accommodation or children’s nursery, subject to the appropriate planning permission.
“St Columba’s lies within a mixed-use area, and benefits from a frontage to both St Columba’s Close and St Nicholas Street, a short walk from the heart of Coventry city centre.”
Tudor added: “The area benefits from excellent local amenities and transport links, with Coventry train station being located approximately half a mile to the south.”
The property is on a long leasehold (virtual freehold) for a term of 1,000 years from 1664, with approximately 642 years unexpired.
The existing accommodation includes a main church hall measuring 2,631 sq ft, a 243 sq ft kitchen, a 1,130 sq ft meeting room, a 134 sq ft storeroom, a 144 sq ft office, a 100 sq ft boiler room, and 100 sq ft toilets.
On the first floor is a 270 sq ft prayer room, a 424 sq ft dining room, a 77 sq ft kitchen and two storerooms measuring 245 sq ft and 239 sq ft.
The former Coventry church is one of 158 lots due to appear in Bond Wolfe’s next auction which is due to start at 9.30am on Thursday 27 October.
