KITCHENER -- Empty churches are transforming into homes and offices with some help from developers and property owners with architectural ambitions.
Churches across southern Ontario are hitting the real estate market and undergoing renovations.
"We love the limestone, we love the old architecture," said Frederick Schuett with One Axe Pursuits.
Schuett turned a church in Elora into his home and office for his recreational adventure company.
"One of the reasons we wanted the building is because of that old heritage look to it," he said. "We didn't want to change anything really."
Vive Development bought a church near Duke Street and Madison Avenue North in Kitchener for a future development.
"The main floors generally have steep vaulted ceilings, so those main floor suites can have really high ceilings, which is cool," CDO Stephen Litt said.
In the 1980s, around 43 per cent of Canadians went to church on a weekly basis. Attendance has now dropped down to about 10 per cent, meaning fewer members to help pay the bills.
"It's a logistical nightmare for a small parish," said David Seljak, a professor of religious studies at St. Jerome's University.
Vive wanted to keep the steeple structure intact, but it will need to be demolished.
"We were going to renovate the church into housing," Litt said. "We ended up partnering with a not-for-profit."
Land rezoning can be a challenge for developers.
"A lot of people thought we were crazy and, for a while, we thought we were crazy too," Schuett said. "But, it all worked out."
