Building Search Update - 12/21/09

Dear SMCLA sangha,

I would like to give you an update on our process related to purchasing a building for the Los Angeles Shambhala Center, the physical site which will form the center of our Shambhala Buddhist mandala in the greater Los Angeles and Southern California area.

In August 2008, I wrote a memo to our directors identifying a timeline of activities to achieve our goal: purchase a building for SMCLA prior to our lease expiration in November, 2010. I identified two major phases of the process: Phase I was to span the remainder of 2008 through the end of 2009; Phase II was to begin in 2010 and go through the purchase and occupancy of our new building in the fall of 2010.

The activities in Phase I centered around (i) identifying and securing funding sources, (ii) increasing our outreach and connection with the community, and (iii) gaining clarity about the specifications of our “target” building. Completing these activities will allow us to make informed choices (and compromises) when we kick off Phase II in 2010, which will be focused on looking for property and exploring our alternatives.

Phase I has been very successful. We have raised a significant amount of money in our building fund, and have met with a number of donors/investors about the feasibility of our financing plan to get feedback and “soft” commitments. We have greatly improved our web presence and our community connections through hosting event booths, joining the Eagle Rock chamber of commerce, and growing our program offerings at our West Side satellite. We are currently completing a forecast of our capacity and space utilization in a larger building.

In the meantime, we have had certain conversations with our landlord about options to either buy, build, or lease long term at our current location. Most recently, he indicated that he does not intend to move forward with creating a campus (building a third building), but that he would sell us our current building at his cost. Unfortunately, his cost is very high (remember, he bought it at the top of the market and also thought he was going to develop it further), and I would not recommend investing now at that price. So, I told him we would speak again in the spring, once we had completed our year end strategic planning sessions. I also wanted to take some time to consider our alternatives, and to place the building purchase in context of our other goals for 2010.

It is worth noting that, even though it seemed like a fortuitous opportunity to purchase or build at our current site, perhaps even one that was “too good to be true”, we had never contemplated this possibility in our original plan. So, even though we may have gotten excited about the prospect of being able to stay put and own our building, we are still right on schedule with the plan we made back in 2008. We may have just had a little trip on the attachment train. As meditators, that should be a familiar experience. So now we get to come back to the present moment and the new (and impermanent) state of our reality.

After Shambhala Day, I will go back to our landlord with a fair and reasonable offer on the property. In the meantime, I will continue to monitor the market to understand our alternatives (I have found a number of buildings that would work, none of them perfect, of course), and consider what our “Plan B” should be if we don’t identify the right place by August of this year. Our lease provides for month-to-month tenancy after lease expiration, but we may consider a more formal extension.

As we kick off Phase II, we will be stirring up the coals to allow opportunities to light up in front of us. One really fun thing about real estate, and also a difficult thing, is that each property is unique. That means that as we search we will likely find a number of buildings that will work but which also require some acceptance of imperfection. Deepening our understanding of our physical requirements, building the strength of our balance sheet and “hard” funding commitments, and increasing our potential for membership and program growth will help us to stay focused and agile for the right opportunity that arises.

I will provide another update and "next steps" on Shambhala Day, when we enter the new year of the Metal Tiger. The Metal Tiger is renowned for his sharpness of action and undying bravery. Let us have the courage in 2010 to rest in the unknown, beyond hope and fear, while we condense our energy and power to pounce on the right opportunity when it arises.

Yours in the Great Eastern Sun,

David Armitage