The pastor and parish council will identify certain surplus property that may be considered for sale or lease.
After initial discussions with the Office of the Vicar Bishop and Director of DFREM regarding sale of the property, the pastor should make a written request to the Vicar Bishop for permission from the Archbishop to evaluate potential disposition of the property, including the reason for requesting alienation.
Procedure:
A) Departments affected by the sale or lease will be asked to submit recommendations to DMS regarding the sale.
B) The parish should not take any further steps nor hire any consultant until the pastor has received written permission from the Archbishop to proceed.
The following questions should be considered in determining whether to sell
Archdiocesan property:
1. Why is the property no longer needed?
a. From a parish perspective?
b. From an Archdiocesan perspective?
2. Have all options been explored to insure the best use (including lease of the property) and/or highest purchase price?
3. If an unsolicited offer is received (e.g., to purchase vacant land), why should the offer be considered?
4. Have uses by Catholic Charities or other Catholic institutions or joint ventures with other Catholic institutions been considered?
5. What are the alternate uses for the property?
6. Do demographic/development trends indicate that the property may be needed in the future?
7. Has retention of the property to satisfy future needs of the Archdiocese been considered?
8. Will there be a Request for Proposal or other process to maximize price?
9. How will the proceeds from sale be used?
10. What is the expected use post-sale and is it consistent with the mission of the Church?
Once the Archbishop’s permission is given, DMS, with input from FREAC, will determine whether and which feasibility studies will be required (e.g., a Needs Analysis Report showing verifiable need and sound reasoning to sell the particular property).
Development of the Feasibility Study may require the creation or compilation of the following supporting documentation:
Where appropriate, DMS will recommend a consultant to work with the parish to develop the required Feasibility Study and any other necessary supporting documentation. The cost of the consultant’s services will be borne by the parish. A DFREM project manager (PM) may be assigned to oversee the third-party consultant’s services.
The pastor and Director of DFREM will present the plan to FREAC.
If FREAC recommends the sale of the property, the proposed transaction is added to the Alienation of Property Report presented to the Priest Consultors and BOFA.
After receiving the evaluation of the Priest Consultors and BOFA regarding the sale of the property, the Archbishop will issue his written decision to the parish.
If approval to sell the property is given by the Archbishop, the PM and parish will prepare a Request for Proposal (RFP) to be sent out to the list of interested parties maintained by the DFREM. DFREM will assist in the creation of the RFP.
The pastor and DFREM will review all offers in response to the RFP and select the best ones to proceed to final analysis. DFREM will ensure that all offers are complete and responsive to all bid items in the RFP. If certain proposals are non-conforming or need further clarification, the pastor and DFREM may re-poll all of the RFP participants for a Best and Final Offer.
The pastor will work closely with DFREM and the Archdiocesan Legal Counsel (ALC) to negotiate any and all necessary transactional documents, to assist the buyer with obtaining all necessary information required under the contract to complete the transaction in a timely manner, and otherwise to close the transaction successfully.
Archdiocesan-owned property sales generally follow the procedures in this Policy, except that a parish and/or pastor may not be involved.
Review of unsolicited offers for the purchase of Archdiocesan real estate generally follows the procedures in this Policy.
A 5% fee on the sale price of a parish/school building is paid to the Archdiocese for services involving these transactions, unless a third-party broker is retained. With respect to leases of parish/school buildings, a fee equal to 5% of the total value of rent paid in the initial term (or any renewal term for existing leases) will be paid to the Archdiocese for services. The fee for leases will be paid only once for each lease.
Services include:
Third-party brokers are generally not used in real estate transactions, and may be retained only with the written approval of the Executive Director of the Division of Management Services (DMS) and in coordination with DFREM.
When a parish/school building is sold or leased, net proceeds shall first be used to repay any debts owed by the parish or school to the Archdiocese, including but not limited to debts owed for:
