After more than a year of negotiations with lenders, Washington Cathedral will be selling its properties and buildings at 12300 Woodinville-Redmond Rd. N.E. in Redmond.

Washington Cathedral’s pastoral staff released an official statement on the church’s blog:

“Washington Cathedral is being forced by our lenders to sell our property. The good news is the church is not now nor ever has been the buildings. And our property is worth significantly more than we owe. So we are headed on a new messy adventure. However, we know that all things work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. This is Christ’s church and the gates of hell cannot prevail against it.”

The blog states that the church currently owes $14.6 million on the property and the monthly payments of $70,000 “is way above (their) capacity to pay at this time.”

“We have been working with our lenders for over a year now to try to renegotiate the terms of our loans to reduce those payments,” the blog states. “After many meetings, phone conversations and written correspondence, it became clear that the only option that was acceptable to our lenders was to sell our property and pay them off.”

According to the blog, the property is more valuable than the amount Washington Cathedral owes its lenders and when they sell and the church should be able to pay off their loans and still have a good nest egg to reinvest for its relocation. With the property’s current zoning the buyer for the property will likely be some sort of nonprofit or school, the blog states.

Officials state on the blog that church members were initially shocked by the news but once they learned more facts, “most have come to understand that this is not a setback of any kind, but rather a new opportunity for (them) to grow and strengthen the ministries of Washington Cathedral.”