Mars Hill is attempting to move their headquarters out of Ballard and to Bellevue, where they say they have been seeing unexpected growth and where the church has grown to 2,500 worshippers and four Sunday services.
The move isn't without it's controversy. Their current Bellevue church campus is getting demolished in 2017 to make way for a new skyscraper and the property they have expressed interest in has been scooped up by Sound Transit. They claim that the International Paper building in the Bel-Red Corridor is the only property that is capable of holding the newly expanded campus and administrative buildings.
Sound Transit bought the property in June as a possible location for a light-rail maintenance and storage yard. ST doesn't expect to make a final decision on where their property would be located until 2015.
In a blog post, Mars Hill explains: "As a church we believe that God will faithfully lead us in our search for a new home. New options may eventually be available to consider for our Bellevue church over the course of time, but right now the International Paper property is the only space we have found in Bellevue that effectively meets our needs, and we want to highlight the benefits of a church in this location as opposed to a maintenance barn. If we are unable to purchase this building we will find another option to lease or buy but we will continue our search."
In Ballard, they are attempting to sell the building that their administrative offices are located in (1411 NW 50th St). Note, the Ballard church on Leary will be staying; only their administrative function is moving.
The warehouse they reside in will be converted to administrative use, according to the Department of Planning and Development Land Use Bulletin.
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