Religion has made way for retail on East Broadway.
On Feb. 13, Christian Faith Fellowship completed the sale of its church property at 5601 E. Broadway, east of North Craycroft Road, to local development company Broadway Festival, LLC for $2.2 million.
The plan is for a multitenant retail project, with three freestanding pads on the two acres purchased.
El Pollo Loco Corp., the California-based, grilled chicken chain, has signed on as its first tenant.
CBRE, the commercial real estate company that negotiated the transaction, helped Christian Faith Fellowship acquire a new, 21,807 square-foot church property in December at 1900 N. Country Club Road.
That space, which belonged to Catalina Church of Midtown and included two adjoining homes, was purchased for $1.7 million.
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David Dahlberg, the lead pastor at Christian Faith Fellowship for nearly a decade, said the new location better suited its growing congregation.
The Broadway spot was originally built as a church in 1957, and was a little more than 11,000 square feet.
Christian Faith Fellowship bought the property in 2004.
“Its sanctuary seated maybe 190 people,” Dahlberg said. “We were doing three services on Sunday morning there to accommodate the amount of people attending.”
The new church space has two sanctuaries, classrooms and also an amphitheater.
The adjoining homes purchased in the North Country Club deal have been torn down to make room for more parking.
Dahlberg said Christian Faith Fellowship leaders were already looking for a bigger home when they were approached by a developer inquiring about buying the Broadway location.
The property sits directly east of 5555 Broadway Center, a retail redevelopment project that serves as home to a number of new businesses, including Stein Mart, Mattress Firm and Hobby Lobby.
“It is in that Park Place mall sweet spot where a lot of retailers and restaurants want to be,” said Nancy McClure, first vice president with CBRE Tucson, who helped negotiate the deal with CBRE senior associate John Ash. “Properties like the one next door went through a major reinvestment. It seemed like the logical choice to continue that trend down Broadway.”
