COLUMBIA, S.C. — The leader of a Columbia church announced to his congregation on Sunday that the church is now under contract to purchase the Dutch Square Center on Broad River Road.
Bishop Eric Davis released a video along with the announcement that showed aerial views of the mall and listed some of its current tenants.
The mall is yards away from the Word of God Church and Ministries International campus on Diamond Lane, where Davis preaches. The church describes itself as dedicated to making a positive impact in the community through spiritual growth, social outreach and empowerment. Davis described the purchase in the video as "expanding our footprint."
During Sunday's sermon, Davis spoke more on the decision to purchase the facility but said additional information on how it will aid the church's mission would be announced later.
"The process to get to this point was pretty tedious as the mall was not for sale, but the Lord said it was sold," he said. "So we are presently under contract to purchase before the end of the year. There's a lot of pieces to this, a lot of moving parts."
The church said on its website that it aims to revitalize the space, "breathing new life into it and transforming it into a place of inspiration, unity and prosperity for the local community and region at-large."
Tax records show New York-based Nassimi Realty as the current owner of the property. The company says online that it "specializes in ground-up development as well as re-development of existing buildings and is renowned in the industry for successfully revitalizing 'turnaround' properties."
News19 is requesting additional information from the company. At this time, the Nassimi Realty website and social properties do not mention the proposed sale.