Frank Couch
The Church of the Highlands' purchase of the Cahaba Grand Conference Center was announced during the May 1 church service.
Church of the Highlands now owns the main conference center at Cahaba Grand. Pastor Chris Hodges announced the purchase of the building, which has housed the church’s Grandview campus since March 6, during the May 1 service.
Ronnie Bennett, executive administrator for Church of the Highlands, said the church’s Board of Trustees chose to purchase the conference center after several months of due diligence.
“We have been meeting in the space on Sundays since March 6th and the purchase will allow us to use the space for ministry purposes during the week, as well as on Sundays,” he wrote in an email.
Daniel Corporation owned the building before selling it to Church of the Highlands, and Chris Schmidt, vice president of leasing with Daniel Corporation, said the sale of the property was finalized in late April. Daniel Corporation is pleased to be partners with Church of the Highlands.
“This seems to satisfy a need for the Church of the Highlands, [and] obviously satisfies our goal to let the asset go,” Schmidt said.
The main building is about 106,000 square feet and includes a 23,000-square-foot meeting space, storage and bathrooms. Bennett said there are plans to build out some of the spaces in the conference center to “better accommodate the needs of our church members with small children.”
Church of the Highlands has grown from 350 members attending its first service in February 2001 to more than 14 brick and mortar campuses, an online campus and more than 30,000 members, according to its website.
