SBOM finalizes sale of Taylor Road property in Montgomery

SBOM finalizes sale of Taylor Road property in Montgomery

The Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM) sold its Taylor Road property March 28 to Aronov Realty and its subsidiary Chase Corner LLC for $2.5 million.

The 13.79 acres of land at the southwest corner of Interstate 85 and Taylor Road in Montgomery was originally purchased in 1986 for $1,050,000 as a potential site for the SBOM’s future relocation.

However, a decision in the mid-1990s was made to add on to the existing SBOM building at 2001 East South Boulevard in Montgomery rather than construct a new building on the Taylor Road property.

About a decade later, the conversation about relocation surfaced again. A decision was made to look toward relocating along the Interstate 65 corridor in Autauga County because it was more centrally located to the state and many of the SBOM employees lived in that area.

In November 2007, the Alabama Baptist State Convention authorized the SBOM to sell the Taylor Road property. The plan was that once the property was sold, the proceeds from the sale would be invested to buy the land and re-locate SBOM office space.

And while a developer submitted a contract to purchase the Taylor Road land within a few months, the homeowners’ association of the subdivision that backs up to the property were concerned about the developer’s ideas. 

When the SBOM originally purchased the property, it agreed to have development plans approved by the original owners. After months of dialog and concessions, an impasse was reached and the developer sought a judicial opinion, which required the SBOM’s participation.

However, at the last minute, the developer withdrew his development plan and the judge could only rule on the question of architectural review, so he ruled in favor of the neighborhood association. The ruling came in 2010, and an appeal did not overturn the decision in 2011.

The original developer pulled out once the contract ended, but a few months later in the Spring of 2012 Aronov Realty and Chase Corner expressed interest and a contract was signed.

‘Business decision’

After nearly two years of studies and meetings with the homeowners’ association, an agreement was reached for development of the property for retail, restaurant and business purposes.

“The sale of the property was a business decision made by SBOM leadership,” said Bobby DuBois, SBOM associate executive director. “We are glad to have the sale completed so that we can move on to other pressing ministry needs.

“We are grateful to attorney Terry Wilson and commercial listing agent John Stanley for their expert guidance through the process,” he added. “The properties subcommittee, executive committee and State Board of Missions have been very supportive and have helped guide the process to get us to the point of a final sale.”

The properties subcommittee also affirmed the SBOM decision to delay any consideration about purchasing property in Autauga County and relocating the current office space, DuBois noted. 

“We have no desire to enter into any land/building transaction that will cause the SBOM to incur debt at the present time.”

(TAB)