Unexpected housing slump effect: Church left half-built

By Mike Trask

Friday, June 27, 2008 | 2 a.m.

Pastor Roy Miller Sr. thought God had answered his prayers when three years ago a developer offered to build him a beautiful church in exchange for five humble acres in Henderson.

Finally, the Black Mountain Fellowship congregation would meet in a real church building, abandoning the trailer home that has served as its worship place for nearly two decades.

The new church would hold more than 300, about three times the current membership, with abundant space for Sunday school classes. It was to open at Christmas.

Last Christmas.

Six months later the church sits unfinished, and the developer has filed for bankruptcy protection.

Miller continues preaching in the old structure. He has lost the five acres and needs to find $800,000 to complete the building.

At age 66, it’s not a pleasant thing to contemplate.

Black Mountain Fellowship is a simple place. Its trailers house the offices, the sanctuary and two classrooms. Outside is a tiny yard and some worn furniture.

Miller’s church purchased the five acres near the end of Gibson Road in 1992. Gibson was a two-lane trail. The land cost $38,500. Miller took a pastor friend with him to survey the land and mark the four corners.

Over the years, as Las Vegas boomed, a succession of developers inquired about the land. They coveted those acres in the foothills, especially for the gorgeous views of Las Vegas Valley and the Strip.

Miller turned them down. He liked the area. So did his congregation.

Yet potential buyers kept coming and as they did, so did creeping residential development.

Finally, the church got an irresistible offer. Slade Development, a longtime local builder, had big plans for Vantage Loft condominiums, an innovative project with low-rise modernist architecture and big windows to take in those sweeping views.

Slade offered $1.8 million for the property. The company also offered to sell the church a new site, in the Calico Ridge area, for that same $1.8 million. And then, Slade would build Black Mountain Fellowship a big church on the new land.

It was a generous offer, especially for a church whose yearly budget is about $150,000.

Soon, Slade was at work on the church and on the condos. At the time, the $160 million loft project seemed pricey, with units priced at $400,000 to $1.6 million. Even in the sizzling real estate market, that seemed high for a low-rise loft on a barren hillside.

The first condos were supposed to open in early 2007, but by then, the market was souring. The sales office didn’t open until June of that year — and it was too late. When construction of the condos stopped this year, developers insisted they would finish the project.

But last week, Slade Development filed for bankruptcy protection. It listed $72 million in debts and assets of $45 million. This week, the phone lines were disconnected.

Work on the church stopped, too. You can see it on the north side of Lake Mead Parkway — the last building before the entrance to Lake Las Vegas.

“The building is almost finished,” Miller says. “But the parking lot is not. And the entryway to the parking lot is not finished. And the landscaping. But the building is close. The contractors tell me it’s only three months to be finished.”

Vantage Lofts also sits incomplete. The first phase is boarded up. The second phase was to be on the land where the old church still operates.

Does Miller have any recourse other than to wait? Can he take the issue to court?

“I’m not a legal-minded individual, I’m a preacher,” he says, sitting in a trailer that serves as his office.

“I’ve never looked at it like I’m sorry I’ve done this,” Miller says. “I still don’t know what the ramifications are going to be. I don’t know if we’re going to be able to get it done.”

He’s hoping the mother church — the Foursquare Church — can help.

Or maybe the church can get a loan to finish the work.

Regardless, Miller remains faithful. He also has no animosity toward the developer.

“We wouldn’t wish bad for anybody, even our developer,” Miller says. “Someone said if there’s no struggle, you’re not doing it right.”

“We learned we can trust and it will get done. You can’t trust in man always. But you can trust in God.”