A church in Columbus' Short North is now on the real estate market. The property at 43 W. Fourth Ave., home to All Nations Christian Fellowship, is being marketed as a redevelopment opportunity.
The listing was first reported by The Business Journals, which described the site as a redevelopment opportunity.
All Nations Christian Fellowship isn't alone in facing this crossroads. Just east of downtown, Livingston United Methodist Church sold its 1.9-acre property at 200 E. Livingston Ave. to Nationwide Children's Hospital for $7.3 million, according to NBC4 WCMH-TV, which reported the sale closed Oct. 1 per Franklin County auditor's office records. That congregation, founded in 1843 as an outreach to the German immigrant community, is remaining in its current building under a lease agreement while it searches for a new home.
A Pattern Playing Out Across Columbus
Nationwide Children's told the station the Livingston site is intended for future growth, though there are currently no plans for the property, which had first been listed in 2024 as a redevelopment opportunity sitting just blocks from the hospital's expanding main campus. Before that sale, the Livingston church's 16,700-square-foot building, constructed in the 1960s, had been listed for sale by The Robert Weiler Company, which described it as ripe for redevelopment given its proximity to both the hospital and downtown.
Similar listings have surfaced across Columbus neighborhoods in recent months. In Victorian Village, a church at 618 Neil Avenue went up for auction, with bidding scheduled to conclude at 11 a.m. on a Wednesday in March, the station's report notes. That 18,416-square-foot property sits on a 0.19-acre site with no parking; its first phase was completed in 1890, with an addition finished in 1914. The building was acquired in 2020 and rebranded as an event venue known as The Sanctuary on Neil, and the auction carried a starting bid of $450,000 with $100,000 increments, handled by Chicago-based real estate firm JLL, though the reserve had not been met as of publication.
University District Properties Also on the Block
In the University District, two more United Methodist properties have joined the market. Summit on 16th United Methodist Church at 82 E. 16th St. and Maynard Avenue United Methodist Church at 2350 Indianola Ave. are both listed and marketed as potential redevelopment opportunities, per the same outlet's coverage. University Baptist Church at 50 W. Lane Ave. is also slated for redevelopment.
The pattern reflects a challenge playing out nationally. Many U.S. churches are grappling with declining attendance and rising costs that make it difficult for some congregations to keep their buildings open, according to cleveland.com. As a result, former church properties are increasingly being transformed into affordable housing, apartments, community centers and social-service hubs, the outlet reported, and faith organizations in Northeast Ohio are exploring ways to use church-owned land for affordable housing projects of their own.
What Comes Next for the Short North Site
For now, the future of the building on West Fourth Avenue remains uncertain as the property is marketed for redevelopment.
