Scientology properties
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Scientology properties are those buildings and campuses owned by the Church of Scientology network of corporations. Though the conglomerate owns buildings around the world, the main concentrations of properties are in Los Angeles, California and Clearwater, Florida.[1][2][3]
The Church of Scientology (COS) has been buying up properties in Clearwater. By 2019, 185 properties covering 101 acres of commercial real estate in downtown Clearwater were owned by COS or its members. According to an investigative report by the Tampa Bay Times, half were bought in the 20 months prior to the report, and numerous properties lay vacant.[2] By 2024, that number had swelled to 200 properties purchased since 2017, leaving just 7 remaining non-scientology owners of commercial properties in the downtown core, while "most of the vacancies in the downtown core are in buildings owned by companies tied to the church", according to the Times.[4] Former Scientology official Tom De Vocht suggested COS was creating a buffer around its core properties to keep the public away.[2]
Daniel Miller of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that as of 2011 "the Church of Scientology owns, by most accounts, more historic buildings in Hollywood than any other entity and is one of the community's biggest property owners... In total, the church owns seven historic Hollywood properties worth about $300 million, part of a Hollywood real estate empire of 26 properties, according to real estate experts."[1] Professor of religious studies Hugh Urban believes COS has purchased so many historic properties to "imbue itself with historical significance". Other issues brought up about the Church of Scientology's purchase of so many properties is that many of the buildings are exempt from paying property taxes, and there are claims that "the historic-building program is simply part of a public relations and marketing campaign designed to bolster the church's ranks of celebrity adherents and distract from the group's controversies".[1]
Scientology leader David Miscavige called for "massive expansion" following 9/11, leading to the purchase of even more buildings along with lucrative fundraising. For example, donations collected for the new Super Power Building in Clearwater were around $145 million, though the proposed construction costs were just $25 million. This led to the Ideal Org project in 2003, a building purchase-and-renovation plan which has been called "a real estate scam", a "money-making scheme", and "Scientology's principle cash cow". Many of the expensively renovated buildings remain empty or nearly so.[5]: 279 [6][7]: 347–8
List of properties
Florida
- Flag Land Base — Campus of numerous buildings known as "Scientology's international spiritual headquarters" in Clearwater
- Flag Building — Formerly known as the Super Power Building. Construction by COS began in 1996 and completed in 2013.
- Fort Harrison Hotel — 1926 hotel in Clearwater. The original purchase by COS (along with the Clearwater Bank Building) when they "came ashore" in 1975.
- Ybor Factory Building — 1886 cigar factory in Tampa. Purchased in 2010.[8]
California
- Château Élysée — 1920s replica of a 17th-century French-Normandy chateau in Hollywood, California. Purchased in 1973, home to Celebrity Centre International.[9]
- Gold Base
- Guaranty Building (Hollywood, California)
- Hollywood Congregational Church
- KCET Studios
- Security Trust
USA, other
- Fraser Mansion — Washington, D.C.
- L. Ron Hubbard House — Washington, D.C.
- L. Ron Hubbard Residence at Bay Head — New Jersey
- One Griswold Street — Michigan. Purchased in 2007, houses the Church of Scientology Detroit.
- Trementina Base — New Mexico
Other countries
- Alhambra Cinema — 1937 Art Deco style building in Tel Aviv, Israel. Purchased in 2010 as the Ideal Center of Scientology for the Middle East.[10]
- Castle Kyalami — 1992 castle in South Africa, originally a tourist attraction and hotel. Purchased in 2008, marking it the 66th global purchase.[11]
- Freewinds — Ship
- Hockley Highlands Inn — Canada
- Saint Hill Manor — England
References
- ^ a b c
- Miller, Daniel (July 21, 2011). "Scientology's Hollywood Real Estate Empire". The Hollywood Reporter.
- "Scientology's Historic Hollywood Holdings". The Hollywood Reporter.
- ^ a b c McManus, Tracey (October 20, 2019). "Clear Takeover : How Scientology doubled its downtown Clearwater footprint in 3 years". Tampa Bay Times.
- ^ Taete, Jamie Lee (March 25, 2015). "I Took a Tour of Scientology's Los Angeles (and It Was Pretty Creepy)". Vice.
- ^ McManus, Tracey (April 4, 2024). "$58M sale extends Scientologists' control of downtown Clearwater". Tampa Bay Times.
- ^ Wright, Lawrence (2013). Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood and the Prison of Belief. Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 9780307700667. OL 25424776M.
- ^ Peters, Joey (March 28, 2018). "Inside the dwindling Minneapolis-St. Paul Scientology movement". City Pages. Archived from the original on October 25, 2018.
- ^ Reitman, Janet (2011). Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 9780618883028. OL 24881847M.
- ^ "Church of Scientology buys Ybor Square". Business Observer. June 4, 2010.
- ^ Meares, Hadley (April 19, 2013). "The Chateau Elysee: Scientology's Celebrity Centre Before it Went Clear". KCET.
- ^ Rosenblum, Keshet (August 30, 2012). "Alhambra Cinema in Jaffa Reopens as Scientology Center". Haaretz. Archived from the original on June 21, 2018.
- ^ "Scientology adds African castle to property list". Scopical. March 26, 2008. Archived from the original on March 29, 2008.