Back in 1987, All Masonic Lodges in the area were asked by the ‘Oakland Masonic Center Board of Directors’ if their lodge wanted to invest in the Oakland Masonic Center located on Broadway in Oakland. Our lodge voted and agreed to purchase 400 shares for a total of $16,000. This equates to 3.58% ownership of that building.
OMC is now looking to list the building and property on the market, and to do so, there is a process to follow with Grand Lodge. We are now being asked to send out the following notification, in addition to having voted on this during our November Stated meeting.
From the Oakland Masonic Center Board of Directors November/ December 2020 Report
The Hall Association is still abiding by what local health officials have recommended. The only tenant operating is Cuisine Catering.
We have had the final walk thru with the American Red Cross and their lease expires January 01,2021. This leave us with three income streams; Verizon, Cuisine Catering and the Masonic entities that rent from the OMC.
At the last OMC Board meeting, we discussed our options. This is what we are facing in 2021;
Income $67,610/ Yr. $5,634/ Mo.
Expenses $277,325/ Yr. $23,111/ Mo.
($209,715) for the year
The reserve study we have showing $1.3 million needed for repairs in the next few years.
As of January 01,2021, we are estimating $230,000 in checking and $57,000 in reserves. The numbers are based on current/actual Profit & Loss figures.
We looked at three options; List the building for sale, keep trying to find tenants for the vacant space or just hang on and try to weather what is happening in the market.
The representative from Colliers came in and went over the current rental market in the Bay Area. There are over 3,000,000 rentable square feet available right now with more coming to the market. The market is dried up due to Covid and the economy. We need a special type of tenant to rent our space.
The next option is to list the building to see what the market might bring. We are running into the same as renting, a down market with hardly any movement. We as a Board have gone through the preliminary steps to list the building IE Grand Lodge procedures.
The third option is to hang on and try to ride this out. It was explained to the Board, current market conditions are very unstable and unpredictable. The recovery is estimated 2 to 4 years out. We were given market data and numerous Real Estate data to back this up. It was discussed if this is the option we took, where would the money come from? The shareholders brought up they may be able to fund some of the costs. We discussed that, but how would they secure their money? We have a 1st mortgage and 2nd mortgage. Although minimal to what the building is worth, refinancing is not an option with no anchor tenants or income.
The Board decided to list the building. To do this we need to meet a certain requirement by Grand Lodge. We have done everything but one. Each shareholder's entity has to vote in a Stated Meeting to list the building. Those minutes need to be included with the package the Board would send to Grand Lodge for their approval. It does not mean we are selling the building; we are listing to see what value it will bring. If we do get an offer it goes back to the Board, the entities (stated meeting) and then final approval from Grand Lodge.
The Board of Directors have been very involved with what has happened since March of this year. We are still battling the homeless/drug dealing on Manila. Trying to find tenants for the space, with prospects driving by and seeing what is happening on Manila, they do not want anything to do with our building, have all brought us to where we are today.
Only Master Masons are eligible to vote. The vote will take place at our virtual November Stated meeting. A simple majority will be needed to list the building. This is listing only.
Fraternally Yours - Phil Williams—Board President
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