Tampa church buys former radio station property

Radiant Church, which has been holding services in a South Tampa shopping center for 12 years, has bought a piece of property nearby and will begin construction on a new building this later this year.

The church’s new building will be on the site of the former iHeart Media & Entertainment on 4002 Gandy Blvd. The church, in a statement, says it purchased the 50,000-square-foot facility on 6 acres. It did not disclose a purchase price and Hillsborough County property records have not been updated.

Those records show Irvine, California-based LBA Properties bought the property from iHeart, which moved, in 2021 for $3.8 million.

The Radiant Church statement, however, says it bought its portion of the 12-acre property from Alliant Development, which will develop it for medical or retail use. County records don’t yet show Alliant bought the property and the company did not respond to a phone message or email Wednesday.

For Radiant, the purchase has been a long time coming.

The church, which was founded in 2013 and holds services at the Britton Theater in Britton Plaza on South Dale Mabry Highway, says that since its inception “every potential permanent building opportunity for South Tampa fell through.”

It was able to reach the agreement with Alliant and funded the buy without taking on debt, the release says. 

Construction on the new church site is expected to begin soon and will take up to 20 months. Plans include a state-of-the-art auditorium that will seat more than 1,400 people.

Radiant will remain at Britton Plaza until next year, when the center is expected to be demolished as part of a redevelopment.

While it’s struggled to find a home in South Tampa, the church has been growing. According to its website, it currently holds services at 12 locations across the Tampa Bay region and online. In the statement, it says it serves 10,000 people each weekend.

As for its finances, while it did not disclose a purchase price in the statement, it credits “disciplined saving, reflecting the church’s commitment to wise stewardship and generosity.”

“Even while preparing for this acquisition, the church invested more than $2.5 million last year alone into local and global outreach and relief efforts—reinforcing that people, not property, remain the highest priority.”