What is this Project - Video
Who is Behind this Project
What is Tokenization?
Why Tokenize?
The Process Explained
The LLC
Initial Offering
Secondary Offering
Why Shoudl I Invest?
FAQ
Artilces
Here is a podcast segment from CryptoNews where Matt Zahab is interviewing Graeme Moore from Polymesh, and the Old Stone Church comes up in discussion. You will have a good laugh at Matt's feelings towards the project. Thank you CryptoNews!
Who is Behind this Project?
One Hope is a 501(c)3 non-profit parent ministry to the Colorado House of Prayer, the primary tenant of the Old Stone Church. Founded by Blake Bush and a team of six people, One Hope is working with churches and ministries in Northern Colorado to bring worship and prayer to extraordinary levels. Visit ColoradoHouseOfPrayer.com for more information.
Blake has been pastoring in Northern Colorado for the past 34 years. After 14 years of youth ministry, he and his wife planted Third Day Church in Fort Collins. In 2018 they stepped out of pastoring a local church to establish One Hope.
In September of 2022, One Hope launched the Colorado House of Prayer in Fort Collins, Co. Right now they are renting the Old Stone Church in Old Town. Having been a student of blockchain for several years, Blake began to explore the idea of putting The Old Stone Church on the blockchain through tokenization and purchasing the building. After research and prayer, Blake was led to RETokens and its founder Tyler Vinson. Together they are bringing the tokenization process to reality, giving the people of the area a way to own their most historic church. Through this process, they will be preserve a portion of the Christian heritage of Fort Collins and at the same time provide a home for the House of Prayer and other ministries.
Blake lives in Fort Collins, Co. with his wife and four kids, all married, with four grandkids. In addition to loving technology, innovation, and prayer ministry, he enjoys playing guitar and camping in the great Rocky Mountains of Colorado.
What is Tokenization?
Tokenization is very similar to offering shares or units of a business. In this case the word tokenization or "tokens" is used because of the use of blockchain technology in offering, securing, tracking, and transacting money for the project. A digital platform is utilized in much the same way as a person would use Robinhood or Fidelity to purchase shares of Microsoft. The transaction is instantaneous, transparent, liquid, and highly secure. The word "token" should not be confused with cryptocurrency, which also utilizes blockchain technology. The tokens we use are not cryptocurrency. The similarity is in the underlying technology. As an analogy, C++ is a programming language. With it a person could build an accounting software program or a video game. QuickBooks has nothing to do with Call of Duty except for the underlying programming language. Tokens and crypto utilize blockchain technology but are quite different in utility.
Why Tokenize?
Blockchain is an amazing technology that, when used with real-world assets like real estate, provides a fast and secure platform for transactions and ownership. For the first time, the common person can own a fractional portion of commercial real estate. Until this point, participating in large projects was tedious and mostly out of reach. If you have ever closed on a house, you know the paperwork involved. To have hundreds of people in an ownership group through the traditional process is nearly impossible. Now through tokenization, 2000 people can come together to own something like the Old Stone Church.
We are excited to announce that, to our knowledge, our project will be the first tokenized church property in America, and maybe even the world. Why is this significant? We believe that we are developing something that can be replicated in every city. The House of Prayer and Tokenization is a great model to follow. According to the book "Gone for Good? Negotiating the Coming Wave of Church Property Transition" an estimated 100,000 churches are coming on the market in the next six years in America due mostly to churches shutting down. We wonder if this tokenization process could help communities keep their historic buildings for non-profits like houses of prayer, food kitchens, and homeless shelters.
The Process Explained
The offering of tokens is considered a security by the S.E.C., so we must adhere to existing security laws. Fortunately, the tokenization process is laid out clearly by our government and the formation and operation of the LLC follows standard practices. Tokenization is a traditional transaction wrapped inside a digital process.
We are excited to be partnering with RETokens, a company specializing in tokenizing real estate and putting together creative real estate deals. They have excellent resources on their site. Visit RETokens.com to learn more about this burgeoning new industry. In addition, our legal counsel Foster Garvey (foster.com) has been excellent in ensuring we are legal and compliant.
General Overview of the Process
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The Old Stone Church, LLC is formed and the board of directors are put in place. (By August 2024)
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Tokens are produced and 'stored' on the blockchain. This is akin to the old-school system of printing shares on pieces of paper and putting them into a vault ready to be sold to investors.
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The Token Platform (governed by RETokens) will be put in place to facilitate transactions.
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The initial offering will go live in August. Accredited investors will use the platform to buy the building. (Explained in greater detail below) The investor(s) are actually buying shares of the Old Stone Church, LLC.
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After one year, the tokens (We have come up with the name Stone Tokens) can be sold on the secondary market. That secondary market is open to everyone! The minimal investment will be $1500 ($500/Stone Token) because we have to cap the number of investors to 2000.
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An evaluation and/or appraisal of the building will take place yearly to set the price of the Stone Token. The price could go up, or it could go down. Each person will have to evaluate for themselves if commercial real estate in downtown Fort Collins will go up, maintain, or go down over the years.
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Stone Tokens will continue to be sold/purchased by investors until Jesus returns or until the majority of investors and the board deem it necessary to sell the building.
STONE TOKEN
The Limited Liability Company
The Old Stone Church, LLC will be manager-managed and not member-managed and governed by an operating agreement put together by the leadership of One Hope and the real estate attorneys at Foster Garvey in conjunction with the expertise of RETokens.
The board has the authority and responsibility to accomplish three tasks.
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Ensure the building is well maintained and the LLC is solvent, healthy, compliant, and in order on behalf of investors.
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Provide a space for ministries, especially the Colorado House of Prayer.
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Be relationally involved in the family of ministries called the New Atom where leaders hold each other accountable for maintaining a high level of morality, spirituality, and ethics.
The board is to be comprised of Christians who have a good reputation in the community, are competent in business, are passionate about the kingdom of God, and are well connected in the body of Christ.
One Hope and the Old Stone Church, LLC are a part of a trans-local fellowship of ministries and churches called The New Atom. The New Atom provides accountability, covering, and connectedness to help ensure their leaders are functioning in health and integrity. If needed the peer leadership group can adjudicate issues and even correct and/or remove leaders of ministries. They are working hard to make sure that ministries, including the Old Stone Church, LLC are functioning at the highest level of godliness and excellence.
Initial Offering
We need a miracle, or at least great connections. The initial offering is available to accredited investors under section 506(C) of Regulation D of the Securities Act of 1933. All we need is one large investor willing to purchase the building for 2.3 million and hold it for a year. At the end of one year, the investor (or group of investors) will sell tokens on the secondary market, actualizing a slight return. (We are open to negotiating the rate.) We make no guarantee of the rate of sales, so the initial investors need to be in a position to hold the asset until the entire 5000 tokens are sold. We believe there is excitement and demand but cannot offer a timeline.
If we end up with multiple investors, money will be staggard and received through the sale of tokens and placed into escrow. Once the full amount has been reached, the purchase of the building will take place. If the sale never takes place, money will be returned with interest.
There is a pathway to participation in our project as well for non-accredited investors under Regulation D. (We can explain this at some other time.) We are asking for a minimum investment of $50,000. If it takes 50 accredited and non-accredited investors, great. We would prefer 1-5 for the sake of simplicity. But perhaps the more the better.
The terms are subject to the Operating Agreement, Private Placement Memorandum, and Subscription Agreement. All are available upon request.
We are looking for investors with a heart for the kingdom of God and our project. If you would like to explore possible involvement, please call Blake Bush at 970-402-2400 or email him at manager@oldstonechurchFC.com
Secondary Offering
We are asking our community in Northern Colorado to prepare now to become partners and co-owners of the ministry. Once the building has been purchased through the initial offering, the clock starts. One year later the tokens will become available on the RETokens platform. The process will be simple and somewhat familiar if a person has used a trading platform. After attaching a bank account, the investor will purchase at least three tokens. Right now a Stone Token is priced at $500. A year from now that number might be $515 depending on the market. Once the Stone Tokens are purchased, they will remain in the investor's RETokens account until the day that investor desires to sell all or a portion of them.
One Hope will work hard to create and maintain a secondary market demand for the Stone Tokens. As the ministries in the building grow, the network of potential partners will grow. Eventually, we see a 'waiting list' of potential investors ready to scoop up tokens as they become available. An investor has to be prepared for the sale of their Stone Tokens to take a while and may have to be active and involved in selling the Tokens themselves.
Why Should I Invest?
We believe this is a brilliant idea, perhaps even a gift from God. People can participate in 'do good investing.' The kingdom is advanced, and the investors maintain an equity position. The sheer brilliance is that the pool of money available for investment is greater than the pool for charitable giving. Fractional ownership increases our buying potential in a shorter amount of time. If the situation arises, money invested can be recaptured with the possibility of a return on investment. However, it is critical to understand that an R.O.I. is not the goal of this type of partnership.
The information on this page is for educational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to invest. This is a tokenized real estate offering under Regulation D Rule 506(c), with the sale of security tokens possible after a 12-month lock-up period under Rule 144. Specific returns on investments in real estate tokens cannot be guaranteed. The value of your investment may fluctuate, and you may lose part or all of your investment, although we believe downtown real estate in Fort Collins will hold its value. The liquidity of these tokens on a secondary market cannot be guaranteed. Limited opportunities to sell may affect your ability to access your investment. Please consult with your financial, legal, and tax advisors to fully understand the risks and implications of investing in tokenized real estate.
What About the Current Owner?
We are deeply indebted to Warren Yoder, friend, man of God, and businessman in Greeley, Colorado. He purchased the building in order for us to get off the ground. Our intention and agreement from the beginning was for him to hold the space until we were able to purchase it. He is willing to work with our timeline. The people owning the building has been our vision from the beginning. We like Warren, but we like the idea of the people of God owning the building in which they minister even more. We are establishing something that will ensure the Old Stone Church will remain in the body of Christ until Jesus returns.