Brisbane church bought on a prayer for $700,000

A Brisbane buyer feels very blessed after buying a retired inner-city church for a massive $100,000 discount — but he may need a bit of divine intervention to make the most of it.

The buyer picked up a former church on a 572sqm block at 8 Kedron Brook Road, Wilston, for an unbelievable price of just over $700,000. The area is one of the hottest markets in Brisbane right now and one of the highest recent sales was a seven-bedroom Queenslander for $3.851 million at the end of June.

The property had been billed as a “a quirky conversion” for someone willing to put the work in, with the owners looking at offers over $699,000, according to agent Richard Mirosch of LJ Hooker Stafford.

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But he says the area has been flood affected in the past so the risk is on the buyer.

The interior of the former church at Wilston in Brisbane.

“There were issues with flood and stuff there so that’s probably why it sold for that price. Normally if there are no issues with the block, you could get well and truly in excess of $800,000 for that,” he says.

“There is a fair bit of risk to that, it’s a cash unconditional offer on the property.”

Mirosch says the buyer was wholly undeterred and keen on conversion options — in this case turning the property into five one-bedroom units for the rental market.

The church at Wilston includes a number of large spaces.

“With some tender love and care, this old beauty could be a work of art,” the listing says. “The possibilities for this ‘House of Prayer’ are endless.”

The property had been a church for 61 years. Gospel Hall Wilston Assembly gifted it to the Queensland Stewards’ Company in March 1999 for $0, according to CoreLogic. The QSC is registered as a charity with the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission, records filed with ASIC say.

The building is made up of several large rooms, including a kitchenette and five toilets separated into male and female rest rooms. The area is zoned low medium density, permitting buildings up to three storeys. It’s a 400m stroll to the Wilston Train Station, 300m to the Wilston Village Cafe precinct and has easy access to Brisbane Airport via the AirportLink tunnel.

This article from The Courier Mail was originally published as “Retired inner city church in Brisbane’s inner ring sold for a song”.