» Chron: Lakewood may buy former Compaq Center

As expected, the sale of the building leased to Lakewood may very well be a good deal for Lakewood to pick up for a song.

The city of Houston is in talks to sell the former Compaq Center property to Lakewood Church. Nationally known for having the largest congregation in the U.S., the mega church sits on seven acres along the Southwest Freeway.

The Lakewood property is one of 17 sites the city is thinking about selling. Most of the properties are vacant land, but a handful are being used by the city or being leased by another entity, like Lakewood.

"If we can sell it and generate enough money ... the city would be able to monetize an asset that we wouldn't realize any value for, for years and years to come," Bob Christy, the city's director of real estate, said about the church property.

...

That's based on the fact that there will be no income on it for more than 20 years.

But the city would be hard pressed to find a buyer other than Lakewood, said Lewis, whose company was recently hired to appraise the site.

A Lakewood spokesman said the church is discussing options with the city regarding the sale of the facility.

"We are hopeful that together we will be able to mutually benefit our city and the thousands of Houstonians who attend Lakewood Church," said Donald Iloff.

The fact that the story doesn't mention Crescent once is a telling indicator that the real estate's interest in the location may have passed for good. I guess the only question left is whether Lakewood has the means to buy it outright, or if a partnership has to be put together to pull the trigger on this.

» KHOU: Lakewood Church building may go up for sale

Interesting ...

Hungry for cash, the city of Houston on Wednesday has hired appraisal firms to figure out how much the building that houses Lakewood Church could sell for.

The move is part of a years-long effort to evaluate city buildings that could be sold for profit, said Frank Michel, a spokesman for Mayor Bill White.

Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church leases the former Compaq Center from the City of Houston, and paid the $10 million 30-year lease up front in 2003, said Lakewood spokesman Don Iloff. The Church has an option to extend the lease through the year 2063 once the original lease expires, he said.

I include Iloff's point to emphasize that even if the building were sold, it wouldn't mean much as far as Lakewood's lease through either 2033 or 2063.

Now ... theoretically, you could get a situation whereby a new owner would prefer to raze the building and build another office tower or retail center. They wouldn't be able to break Lakewood's lease, but they might be able to nudge and prod and force some monetary decisions that could make a move by Lakewood something to consider. Again, this is the worst-case scenario.

But there's some history to consider. The firm that wanted the property back in 2003 was Crescent Real Estate, the company that essentially owns Greenway Plaza. No doubt, they're first in line in any conversation about selling the property. In the whole dust-up as to who would get the lease after the Toyota Center was opened, Crescent seemed more interested in building a new office tower. Yet, when Lakewood looked like a lock to get the lease, they raised the issue of automobile traffic in the area created by Lakewood attendees. Given the question mark about what attendance would look like then, and factoring in what a nightmare traffic was during peak Rockets seasons or during Garth Brooks concerts at the Compaq Center, I think there was some justifiability in the concern. But given the issues of parking and traffic, such as they presently exist with Greenway Plaza alone, it remains to be seen that a new office tower would be the first consideration for them these days.

Of course, nowadays we have a glut of office space and big loans are hard enough to come by that I can imagine some hesitance over a loan for that. Given the residential building and beginnings of some commercial development, it might make sense to place another strip center along the area. That's a medium-sized if, though, depending on what anyone thinks is really needed in terms of commercial business. A grocery store along Southwest Freeway doesn't strike me as plausible.

The existing building isn't of much use to anyone other than for a church. The Toyota Center was built and contracted with a non-compete clause, so it's not like there'll ever be another sports team or concert tours that come through the building as-is under new ownership.

I only point those out to demonstrate the constraints on the value of the property to an outside buyer.

My first hunch is that the first logical buyers include:

- Crescent, for the sake of just holding onto the property if and whenever it might not be leased out and if the market for office space is conducive to them rebuilding at some point in the future.

- Lakewood, if the price is right. This would remove any potential uncertainty over ownership. But given the strain on a lot of church finances these days, it strikes me as a huge open question as to whether it's feasible even at a nice price. I'm not privy to the finances the church arranged on the loan for redeveloping the previous structure, but my sense is that they made a lot of payments up-front either to get the entire debt paid off quickly, or to get the yearly payment down to a manageable level very quickly. I remember a lot of talk about a big payment due at the first year of the opening, but haven't heard word one about that since. If I were to guess, a value under $100M might make it worth considering for Lakewood ... but they'd have to go asking for another big loan to make that happen.

- Marriot Hotels ... a darkhorse. Marriot owns the Renaisance Hotel and might have some interest in protecting a major structure across the street from them. Whether they would view the investment as a hedge on protecting the value of the Rennaisance, or see the land/property as something they might want to reconfigure if and when Lakewood is no longer a tenant, I think it's early to speculate.

It's worth noting that Crescent has subsidiary companies which may be another option, and I'm not sure who owns the condo towers across from the Timmons side of the building. But there might be some marginal interest there as well.

KHOU offers up a recap of the Yankee Stadium trip. As always, their coverage is pretty generous.

Weird: Both Joel and Victoria seem to be blog fodder lately over look-alike identities.

What's the saying again? ... it's not who you are, it's whose you are?

Beliefnet's Steve Waldman sat down with Joel for some Q&A ... full transcript here. More thoughts as time permits later in the day.

The upcoming issue of Texas Monthly ...

The last time Joel was on the cover was the month Lakewood opened up the Compaq Center location. The issue was also one of the best sellers for the folks at Texas Monthly.

Joel & Victoria get TMZed while in New York City.

Joel & Victoria on Larry King Live last night (transcript here if you prefer to read). The Yankee Stadium visit & Hope for Today Bible, among the topics ...

I can't say I'm a fan of King's interview style, but his desk seems like an obligatory stop for anyone these days.

Joel & Victoria take to the air in New York ...

Joel & Victoria, still making the media rounds in NY. This time with Sean Hannity on Fox News.

A bit of a refreshing truth here by Joel as Hannity tries to drag Joel into a political point.

VICTORIA OSTEEN, LAKEWOOD CHURCH: Well, you know, I think everybody's looking for something. And you know, we talk about just look to God. You know, don't look to man. Man can only do so much. But God can do the impossible. He's limitless.

So you know what? Whether you believe in God or not, you need to believe that -- you know what? You don't have to rely on man. That God has given you gifts. He's given new talents. He'll open opportunities for you to work hard and to accomplish things.

HANNITY: What I'm afraid of -- because I agree with you. I think every human being was born with incredible potential and talent, every single person. And that, when you live in freedom and you don't have tyranny, that that talent can come to fruition, come to life.

And I think that's why America has advanced the human condition more than any country in civilization, in history. And I think we're on the verge of sort of backtracking from that self-reliance and that free opportunity for everybody. Do you not see that at all, without bringing you into the political side of it?

J. OSTEEN: Well, you know, Sean, I don't know if I -- I don't know if I see it as much as you, because you know what? We're dealing with people that a lot of times, trying to lead the Christian life, trying to overcome a divorce, trying to make it through the tough times. So, so much of our message is just about empowering people to know that there are good days up there ahead. You know, even then you possibly might be in difficult times. God can still bring you through.

Joel & Victoria on Good Morning America again. This time celebrating Joel's birthday, mentioning the visit to Yankee Stadium, and a few other topics of interest. Check the video over there. It may be a while today before I get any ripped & posted.

One of those additional items of interest is that Victoria's book will be getting a paperback release soon.

» Seattle Times: "Nightline" debate to take on Satan in Ballard church

This oughtta be fun ...

The debate over whether Satan exists is hardly going to be settled in a 30-minute television show.

But that's not stopping a rather curious lineup from debating that question for ABC's "Nightline."

The debaters: megachurch Pastor Mark Driscoll of Seattle; alternative-medicine author Deepak Chopra; a former Las Vegas escort who founded Hookers for Jesus; and a former Pentecostal preacher who was branded a heretic for saying everyone -- not just Christians -- could go to heaven.

The four are gathering Friday at Mars Hill Church in Ballard, where Driscoll is preaching pastor, to tape the segment, which will air March 26.

I can't claim to be a fan of what Nightline has done for interfaith discussions in the past, so my expectations start off on the low side for this one.

In case you've already gotten your fill of Christmas movies, Joel & Victoria will be on CNBC's Conversations with Michael Eisner on December 23rd. It should be airing at 8pm and midnight, Houston time.

» Philly.com: Ministering to the masses

More media from Joel & Victoria's Philly visit. This one involves a short Q&A with Victoria.

From the Philly Fox outlet, here's an interview of Joel done when the traveling road show hit the City of Brotherly Love ...

As some of you know, I do a bit of political work as part of the dayjob. So imagine my surprise recently, to see my worlds collide. The Hill Research Consultants did some post-election polling and threw Joel Osteens name in the mix to see how some political names compared to non-political names. The results weren't too shabby. 43% of Texas voters have a favorable view of Joel, while 18% have an unfavorable view.

The full report is here if you're interested in the rest of the poll.

From Larry King Live ....

Via da email ...

Watch today as Marcus & Cindy make a special guest appearance on the TBN National broadcast from Miami, Florida. The show will air 5-7pm (CST) on your nearest TBN station. Cindy will be singing throughout the program and then she and Marcus share about God's goodness in their Marriage, Family, Career, and Ministry, so tune in and set your DVR's! The show will be hosted by Pastors Scott and Cindy Thomas. Other guests include:

* Jada Collins - Fashion Model, Author, and National spokesperson for Ebony Magazine.
* Pastor Tracy Barnes - campus pastor of Fellowship Church - Ft. Worth, TX.

You can also watch the show on-line, now, by clicking on the following link: http://www.tbn.org/index.php/2/37.html

We hope you'll tune in and experience the presence of God as you watch the broadcast. We pray God's best for you today and always!!!

Cindy singing? That sounds like a winner to me.

Thanks to Rachel for spotting this ... I totally would have missed this otherwise.

Here's some more video to make your Sunday night/Monday whenever more complete: Cindy & Marcus Ratcliff with their newly adopted kids. Great segment on KHOU's "Great Day Houston."

I missed this last week, but here's the extended interview of Joel Osteen on Newsweek/Washington Post's "On Faith" website:

Victoria's interview there was posted last month.