LOS ANGELES, July 23 (UPI) -- The Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange in California says it has offered to purchase the bankrupt Crystal Cathedral for $50 million in cash.
The deal would let the Garden Grove church lease parts of the property for three years and at the end of the lease the diocese would help the ministry find a new location, the Los Angeles Times reported.
"We wanted to be as flexible as possible given their situation," said Alan Martin, a bankruptcy attorney for the diocese, based in Orange County.
Crystal Cathedral officials didn't publicly comment on the tender.
The Crystal Cathedral was founded by the Rev. Robert H. Schuller and is home to the weekly "Hour of Power" broadcast. It filed for bankruptcy in October, listing more than $50 million in debts.
There are other interested parties for the property, the Times said. A real estate group has offered $46 million for the 40-acre site and buildings, as has Chapman University; both offers would let the church lease back core buildings with the possibility of repurchasing the cathedral.
Orange Bisop Tod Brown said the diocese needs worship space for more than 1.2 million parishioners in the area.
The 3,000-seat cathedral would be a less expensive alternative to building a new cathedral -- the diocese has considered a project in Santa Ana, Calif., that would cost at least $100 million.
