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A building that formerly housed a church in the Alberta Arts District of Northeast Portland is being pegged for use as a community center.

The building, at 5131 N.E. 23rd Ave., was the longtime home of the International Fellowship Family church. The building was deeded to the lender, Evangelical Christian Credit Union, in 2005, and the church now operates at 4401 N.E. 122nd Ave. The 7,388-square-foot building is for sale at an asking price of $495,000.

The building would be a good candidate for a community center, according to broker Sara Daley, because zoning allows for educational, event, community or religious uses through the conditional use permit process.

鈥淚t’s a little bit of a head-scratcher, only because it’s in a residential zone,鈥� Daley said. 鈥淏ut it’s been priced pretty aggressively to accommodate for the fact that if it has a different use than a church it will have to go through a conditional use process.鈥�

Of course, successful navigation of the conditional use process would require the buyer’s plans to dovetail with residents’ desire for the building.

鈥淭hat’s why it would be a perfect building for a community center or arts use,鈥� Daley said. 鈥淚n order to achieve that, whoever goes in there is going to need to have the support from the district because to go through the conditional use process, you need to have neighborhood approval.鈥�

The building was constructed as a Masonic lodge in 1924. It has a large sanctuary with high ceilings and a wraparound balcony, which includes offices, classrooms, storage and restrooms. Additional fellowship space, a kitchen and restrooms are on the ground floor.

For details on purchasing this property, contact Daley at 503-721-2726 or [email protected].听

Block by Block is a weekly look at commercial real estate around Portland. Send suggestions for properties to [email protected].