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An old Northeast Portland church building is awaiting a new congregation or commercial enterprise.

The former Bethlehem Lutheran Church at 1244 N.E. Cesar E. Chavez Blvd. is for sale; it鈥檚 listed for $1.05 million. The large, 15,000-square-foot building was built in 1928 and has numerous amenities such as classrooms, offices, a kitchen, 59 on-site parking stalls and a sanctuary with a balcony. The unmistakable facade also features tall, classic stained glass windows.

Jan Wierima, executive assistant to the bishop for the , said the previous congregation chose to gift the building to the synod following a steep decrease in the size of its congregation. The group once had hundreds of members, but today it has fewer than 50, and Wierima said maintaining the building was no longer financially feasible.

鈥淭his has happened, not just across the Lutheran faith, but it鈥檚 happening across the board,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd so what we鈥檙e doing is we are engaging our leadership (to make) very thoughtful discernment about how to help congregations be adaptive and stay to the core of what they believe they鈥檙e called to do. And sometimes that means you can鈥檛 afford the building anymore. Sometimes it means, 鈥榃e are choosing to center our mission in a different way.鈥� And that鈥檚 a pretty courageous thing.鈥�

Ryan O鈥橪eary, a broker who is listing the property for Oregon Synod said its zoning would let another congregation acquire the property and move in easily. Occupancy also could be smooth for businesses such as fraternal organizations and day care companies.

The three-story building sits on 0.83 acres of land near Interstate 84, TriMet bus routes and a MAX light-rail station. The building also is within walking distance of the Northeast Hollywood retail corridor, Laurelhurst (K-8) School, Providence Health and a 24 Hour Fitness.

O鈥橪eary said a creative owner could convert the big building into a residential structure. One could likely divide up the structure into about seven units without triggering complicated permitting reviews.

Despite being on the market for a short time, the building already has drawn several inquiries, O鈥橪eary said.

鈥淲e have had some interest from a few developers and we鈥檝e also had some interest from a few different organizations that would continue to worship out of it with a little rehab,鈥� he said. 鈥淎t this point we鈥檙e still early in the marketing process.鈥�

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