Overlake Facility To Be Purchased By The City Church

KIRKLAND

The Rose Hill site of the Overlake Christian Church in Kirkland is expected to get a new name in the next few months, with its sale to The City Church of Bellevue.

"This, of course, is a wonderful blessing," said the Rev. Wendell Smith of The City Church as he explained how a satisfactory deal was arranged. The Overlake church complex, at 9051 132nd Ave. N.E., has been up for sale since the church expanded to new quarters along Willows Road in Redmond, where it's expected to move by about December.

While Overlake was growing itself, so was The City Church, which meets in an auditorium near 148th Avenue Northeast and Main Street. The church has about 1,550 members, with about 500 attending each of three services.

When Smith announced to those attending the services that a new site had been found, he asked for contributions. The members promptly came up with more than $250,000, about 40 percent of it in cash and the rest in pledges, said Smith.

"It was a good weekend," he said, expressing some amazement that people were simply able to produce that much money out of their wallets and purses.

The money will be used to help finance the purchase of the site, with The City Church essentially arranging a lease-option agreement through a five-year lease. The intention, however, is to quickly find a lender, said Smith, and arrange a mortgage. The purchase price will be more than $8 million.

Smith said the move isn't expected to be a major geographic challenge. "We're looking at it not so much as leaving Bellevue but expanding our circle," he said.

Peyton Whitely's phone message number is 206-464-2259. His e-mail address is: pwhi-new@seatimes.com