Centers for the Arts Bonita Springs buys Living Waters church buildings

BUYER: Center for the Arts of Bonita Springs Inc. (principals: Marybeth Crawford, Jacke McCurdy, Terri Alsept, Joan Dixon, Claire Gorman, Susan Bridges, Tom Briers and Todd Kluener), Bonita Springs
SELLER: Living Waters Community Church Inc.
PROPERTY: 27911 Vermont St., Bonita Springs
PRICE: $2.53 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $1 million, August 2006
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP, Naples

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Centers for the Arts Bonita Springs purchased the 28,088-square-foot former home of Living Waters Community Church for $2.5 million.

The price equated to $90 per square foot.

The arts nonprofit acquired the buildings and 4.2-acre property to use as a new Center for Performing Arts. The property features a 400-seat theater, called the Hinman Auditorium, for dance, music, community and youth theater performances and the separate 9,000-square-foot Moe Auditorium & Film Center, for the nonprofit's foreign film series, youth performances, classes and more.

Prior to learning of the Living Waters Community Church property, the Centers for the Arts Bonita Springs had planned to develop a new building at the cost of $8 million. At the same time, Living Waters Community Church was also looking to acquire a new location to increase the size of the church.

“We had a board member that attends Living Waters tell us they were selling the space,” says Patrice Shields, marketing and public relations director for the Centers for the Arts Bonita Springs. “This way we could immediately jump into programming. Churches now are very dynamic and theatrical with the AV systems and acoustics. This came with a 400-seat auditorium with the computer sounds system and the lights. It was really set up for the theater.”

The nonprofit is already using the space for performances. In the near future it hopes to create a culinary center, but Shields says the renovations needed on the buildings are very minor.

She says the nonprofit is already funded to 90% of its goal for the $3.3 million Achieving Our Destiny campaign to pay for the new Center for Performing Arts.