Summary of Options

[Ateeq Ahmed]

Assalamu alaikum all,

Below is a summary of the 4 options we have discussed so far in the meetings and over email, as I see it.

Please feel free to add more points or suggest modifications. Goal is to have all our points documented once and for all rather than repeating. It took me a while to compile this list so please spend some time reading it :). We can use this list with all your feedback incorporated as the starting point for our next meeting in shaa Allaah.

 

- Ateeq

 

 

Option 1:   a.k.a. "Hybrid Option" (presented by Br. Pasha and team)

Buy current facility (1143 Sibley) AND partially develop the MB site (parking lot, tents/trailer-home for prayers and ISF activities)

 

Pros:

1. Will solve the rent problem and allow us to start building equity
2. Will not diverge much from the long-term solution of MB since we will be working on it in parallel

 

Cons:

1. Buying this property may become a liability for us given the trend of real estate these days and the economic hardship of our organization
2. Unknown: The cost and city-codes for the tents/trailer homes is something to be investigated. Somebody suggested that the occupancy permit for such structures might only last a year
3. The securing of a $1.5M loan may not be possible for the current facility. In other words we may need to apply for 2 loans: one to purchase the current facility, and the second for temporary construction on MB site.
4. This option will slightly delay the end goal of MB.

 

Summary:

This option was not met with a lot of excitement during or after the meeting and in our next meeting we could vote on completely ruling it out.

 

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

Option 2:    Masjid Bilal   (presented by Br. Riaz)

Buy nothing right now. Continue renting 1143 Sibley. Start building Masjid Bilal (leaving out kitchen, and other non-urgent cost-cutting items). The high-level plan is to secure a $1.5M loan to start construction within a couple of months and in the meantime, collect the balance in the form of donations.

 

Pros:

1. Will allow us to make progress full-steam toward the MB project taking advantage of the lowered costs.
2. No divergence from original plan; most efficient way to attain final solution of MB

 

Cons:

1. Will not solve the rent problem we are facing right now (will make it worse if assumption #3 is not met)
2. Time: Even this slightly incomplete version of MB will not be ready for use until 2 years from now
3. Unknowns: Has some big assumptions to meet

 

Assumptions:

1. We will be able to raise over $1M in donations within 1.5 years
2. The total remaining cost of MB will not exceed $2.5M (down from the $3M figure we were looking at recently)
3. We will not be required to make loan payments for MB until after construction is complete (show-stopper)
4. Signing a long-term 2 or 3-year lease with the current facility (1143 Sibley) will give us a 3K discount per month on the rent

 

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

Option 3:  a.k.a. Masjid Bilal Lean (proposed by Br. Sadiq over email after the meeting)

Similar to option 2 in some ways.

Buy nothing right now. Continue renting 1143 Sibley. Start building a truly leaner version of Masjid Bilal (not just simple cost cutting):

Parking Lot & Playground for FCS,  2-4 Big Halls for jumuah, taraweeh and all ISF activities.

We should try to get this done within 1.5M target. Fund from donations as much as possible, and rest from Ijara loans

 

 

Pros:

1. Will make the MB project more affordable by lowering the barrier for occupancy and utility
2. Less divergence from original plan; our focus will continue to be on MB

 

Cons:

1. Will not solve the rent problem we are facing right now. Will make it harder because we will need to fund MB at the same time.
2. Unknowns: Has some big assumptions to meet
3. Time: Even this watered down version of MB may not be ready for use until 1.5 years from now

 

Assumptions:

1. That it is possible to pick and choose what we want to build and start occupying on the MB site (4 halls, etc.).
2. That this new proposal won't require any re-work of permits, drawings, etc.
3. We will be able to build parking lots, and the halls and all necessary infrastructure for ISF activities within $1.5M

 

 

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

Option 4:   Buy United Rentals (UR), rebuild it to serve the current needs of ISF/FCS and expand later as needed

 

Pros:

1. Quickest route to having our own place (if things go per plan, can occupy by next summer in shaa Allaah)
2. Will provide much-needed permanent prayer place for ISF, playground for FCS, etc.
3. Can avoid rent and start building equity
4. Affordable: $1.5M seems more manageable in terms of acquiring the loan and paying it off. Might even manage a rent-to-own contract and avoid loan altogether.
5. Scalable: Can expand the facility on an as-needed basis starting with bare minimum.

 

Cons:

1. Divergence from original plan of Masjid Bilal. Will delay that end-goal by at least a few years
2. School codes and requirements need to be met and the resulting cost may balloon and become comparable to cost of MB!
3. Unknowns: Environmental study needs to pass, school permits could drag on for months (show-stopper)
4. Aesthetics: does not resemble a mosque. Patchy solution compared to the new and attractive MB.
5. Seems counter-intuitive to go and procure another property when we're already in debt and unable to complete our current project

 

Summary:

This option would make sense if we admit that:

• It is a necessary divergence given the status of the MB project and is our only way forward
• In other words, we're consciously postponing the MB project for being unable to afford it at the moment

 

Otherwise it doesn't make much sense to sink a whole lot of resources into a "temporary" solution instead of pursuing our final and ideal solution.

 

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

[Abdul Hadi G.Pasha]

Walaikum Salaam WR WB,
 
JazakaAllahu Khairn Br.Ateeq for your noble service in this regard day and night.
MashaAllah very good job capturing the summary. 

Below I simply elaborated the Pro#2 in the Option#1 in blue font.

 
JZKK
Pasha
 

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Date: Tue, 26 Oct 2010 02:47:00 -0700
From: ateeqh...@yahoo.com
Subject: [isfmasjid:123] Summary of Options
To: isfm...@googlegroups.com

Assalamu alaikum all,

Below is a summary of the 4 options we have discussed so far in the meetings and over email, as I see it.

Please feel free to add more points or suggest modifications. Goal is to have all our points documented once and for all rather than repeating. It took me a while to compile this list so please spend some time reading it :). We can use this list with all your feedback incorporated as the starting point for our next meeting in shaa Allaah.

 

- Ateeq

 

 

Option 1:   a.k.a. "Hybrid Option" (presented by Br. Pasha and team)

Buy current facility (1143 Sibley) AND partially develop the MB site (parking lot, tents/trailer-home for prayers and ISF activities)

 

Pros:

1. Will solve the rent problem and allow us to start building equity

2. Will not diverge much from the long-term solution of MB since we will be working on it in parallel. This option will get us a  step closer towards the goal of completion of Masjid Bilal project. Any improvement made such as parking lot development, water, electricity connections still apply now and in future as well. It is about making use of our Masjid Bilal site even before Masjid building gets built as it  is our community asset, significant investment has already been make on this site.

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[Riaz siddique]

Wa AA Ateeq Bhai . Jzkk.

Can you please also add this important Pros in the options 1, 2 and 3:
Masjid Bilal/ School is designed to meet all the" city codes" including the handicap requirements, elevator etc that is required in any public building/school.  All the studies such as Traffic study, environmental study, soil reports, site survey etc are also done for Masjid Bilal. These things are expensive and time consuming.

Also the time to build MB is one and half year as the most hardest part in the site such as grading, retaining walls and the design of parking lot, landscape, playground design are all done.

Finished building will Inshallah look like Masjid, a landmark and dawa center.

Riaz

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From: Ateeq Ahmed <ateeqh...@yahoo.com>
To: isfm...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Tue, October 26, 2010 2:47:00 AM

Subject: [isfmasjid:123] Summary of Options

[Noorr Khann]

AOA Br. Ateeq. JZK, Great job in putting all the options together. This helped me to understand all the options that were discused in the meetings since I was not there.      Noor  --- On Tue, 10/26/10, Ateeq Ahmed <ateeqh...@yahoo.com> wrote:

[Ateeq Ahmed]

Jazak Allaah khayr Pasha bhai, I have noted down your feedback.

 

One thing I notice, is that Option 1 and Option 3 (Sadiq bhai's MBL idea) are similar in that:

 - they both require partial / skeletal development of MB

The main difference being:

 - Option 1 proposes buying current facility, Option 3 suggests continuing to rent it

 

We may be able to quickly rule out one of these 2 options.

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From: Abdul Hadi G.Pasha <ahp...@hotmail.com>
To: isfm...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Tue, October 26, 2010 7:45:12 AM
Subject: RE: [isfmasjid:125] Summary of Options

[Fareed Siddiqui]

I think we should consider option 5 buying an existing facility big enough for all our needs and beyond, perhaps outside folsom.  
 

Fareed siddiqui

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From: Noorr Khann <noorr...@yahoo.com>
To: isfm...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Tue, October 26, 2010 1:39:02 PM
Subject: Re: [isfmasjid:127] Summary of Options

[Fareed Siddiqui]

Ateeq Bahi,

 

As-Salam-Aikum

 

I like to thank you for doing a very good job in summarizing all the options and the feedback on all the proposals
 

Fareed siddiqui

---

From: Ateeq Ahmed <ateeqh...@yahoo.com>

To: isfm...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Tue, October 26, 2010 5:52:42 PM
Subject: Re: [isfmasjid:129] Summary of Options