Church purchases Verizon amphitheater

River City Community Church purchased Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in a deal Thursday that gives the growing Northeast Side congregation a 109-acre property it had been working to own for two years.

The same day, the church sold its current 10-acre property on Redland Road to Resurrection Baptist Church in Schertz, which draws about 2,000 to services and which plans to use it as a second campus.

River City had to cancel a contract on the amphitheater property a year and a half ago because no financial firm would agree to a loan. After securing a willing lender, the church plans to use the property to relieve its congested parking and worship space, Pastor Sean Azzaro said.

“God is good. We are grateful to him. This is a high-profile piece of property. We very much want to do things that are a gift to the community,” said Azzaro, whose church draws 1,300 people on weekends at three worship sites and also has a 100-student school.

Azzaro declined to reveal the purchase price but said it “came back for significantly less than the very good offer in 2009.”

He did say the price was under the $6.5 million figure noted in church fundraising materials. The property also is 9 acres larger than in the failed 2009 deal.

The property was appraised at $8.8 million in 2006 and $4.1 million this year, according to the Bexar Appraisal District.

Capable of seating 20,000 people, Verizon Wireless Amphitheater was Bexar County's largest outdoor music venue. But concert promoter Live Nation Worldwide began selling its assets and, in February 2009, began leasing the amphitheater to real estate company Stream Realty, which had an option to buy the theater.

Allan Young with Stream Realty declined to discuss the deal's specific dollar amounts. He said Stream Realty exercised its option to buy Thursday and then sold it the same day to River City. Stream Realty had been marketing the property to churches and schools, he said.

“This is another indication that the economy is getting better with deals like this,” Young said. River City “is glad that they're buying it. It makes a lot of sense for them. They'll be able to use a lot of the improvements.”

Live Nation did not want competitors in the music business using the amphitheater. The lease with Stream Realty prohibited all concerts, theatrical performances and comedy acts.

In the event of a sale, the restrictions would last seven years, which Pastor Azzaro confirmed was stipulated in his purchase agreement.

The church has grown to four services on weekends. It will immediately begin constructing a multipurpose building with space for 1,000 people to worship. It's tied into an existing restroom structure and adjacent to one for concessions.

The new building will take about eight months to complete, the pastor said.

Meanwhile, the church plans to chip away at improvements to the amphitheater over several years in a project to close its 73,000-square-foot facility and provide up to 3,000 seats.

The 13-year-old congregation began with five families meeting in the pastor's home.

The church has held workdays for volunteers to clean up the property from time to time and plans a celebration at 6:30 p.m. Sunday on the site's hillside.

Resurrection Baptist Pastor Ray Brown said Azzaro's former property likewise will relieve crowding and tap into a new area of the city for growth. He said he paid a little more than $3 million for River City's former home.

“It's a sign of how the city's growing and churches are mutually coming together on projects that benefit both,” he said.