A booming Scottsdale church is transmuting a space where office workers once prayed for raises into a house of worship.<\/p>\n
In fitting fashion, after buying a massive commercial property near Shea Boulevard and the Loop 101, Trinity Church\u2019s celebratory video featured a clip from \u201cThe Office.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unlike the painfully awkward Michael Scott, Trinity\u2019s Pastor Mark Driscoll is a polished, charismatic \u2013 and controversial \u2013 leader who has grown his flock exponentially in less than a decade.<\/p>\n
He says the congregation is bursting from the current church a few miles from Old Town,\u00a0leading to a planned move 4 miles north.<\/p>\n
A dozen years after complaints of bullying and \u201cabusive behavior\u201d led to his leaving Seattle and starting a new church here, Driscoll and his wife\/partner in faith signed a $15 million purchase contract.<\/p>\n
Though hardly as dramatic as the Driscolls\u2019 back story, this vacant office has a colorful history.<\/p>\n
At its Aug. 26, 2025, meeting, Scottsdale City Council unanimously approved “The Collector’s Garages as WestWorld.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mayor Lisa Borowsky started to move on to the next item, then paused to let celebratory whoops die down. \u201cI know you guys are excited. Happy hour is across the street,\u201d she cracked.<\/p>\n
Borowsky then introduced agenda item 17, \u201ca consideration of a request to allow an existing office building. at 10001 North 92nd Street to convert into internalized community storage facilities.\u201d<\/p>\n
There were no celebrations on this one.<\/p>\n
Just south of Shea Boulevard and west of the Loop 101, the sprawling property is described as a two-story, 116,200 square foot \u201cClass A\u201d office building.<\/p>\n
Connected buildings and a two-story parking garage were erected in 1996 on a 7-acre site.<\/p>\n
After the offices went vacant for years, a new plan was pitched to Council.<\/p>\n
While the former CVS main campus at 9501 E. Shea Blvd. also remains vacant, owners of a former satellite office for the healthcare giant\u2019s office workers pitched a \u201cflip\u201d to Council.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the shadow of the planned Mercado Village on Shea Boulevard and 92nd Street, the smaller office is less than 1 mile from the empty former CVS main campus.<\/p>\n
Equus purchased the smaller property at 10001 N. 92nd St. in 2014 for $24 million. Six years later, Equus bit the bullet and sold to Exeter at a $5 million loss.<\/p>\n
That proved to be a horrific investment, as longtime tenants CVS and HonorHealth bailed out in 2022.<\/p>\n
At last year\u2019s council meeting, Taylor Reynolds of the Planning Department explained a developer was requesting \u201cto amend the zoning ordinance land use table to allow for internalized community usage, vehicular storage, and warehousing all as permitted uses within the city’s commercial office or C-O zoning district.\u201d<\/p>\n
Council members snapped to attention when the city staffer explained the change would not just apply to the location at Mountain View and 92nd Street: \u201cthis would apply citywide.\u201d<\/p>\n
The idea of \u201cflipping\u201d office space to storage landed awkwardly.<\/p>\n
Carolyn Oberholzer, an attorney representing 92nd Street and Mountain View Storage Partners, insisted the city staff\u2019s narrative that a General Plan amendment was required was not accurate, as this plan is not for a \u201cwarehouse\u201d \u2013 but rather \u201cmini storage.\u201d<\/p>\n
Councilman Barry Graham grimaced when he commented no matter what it was called, \u201cI don’t support internalized storage at this location.\u201d<\/p>\n
Graham called the idea of a text amendment that would allow storage at similar sites \u201cdangerous. That is a path that is a precedent we do not want to set,\u201d Graham said.<\/p>\n
He said granting the request would have \u201ca chilling effect on hundreds of property owners and neighborhoods.\u201d<\/p>\n
Graham moved to reject the request, with a quick second by Councilwoman Jan Dubauskas.<\/p>\n
After a half hour of the idea being discussed, dissected and generally desecrated, Oberholzer asked to speak again: \u201cI would like to request that we withdraw the application.\u201d<\/p>\n
The expectation was the developer \u2013 also known as Exeter Property Group \u2013 would do some work and resubmit a fine-tuned application.<\/p>\n
Instead, the property went up for sale.<\/p>\n
Exeter, which bought the sprawling office complex in 2020 for $19 million, made a sale within months \u2013 but took a hit, selling for just $15.5 million.<\/p>\n
The new owner plans a massive renovation, flipping the office into a church.<\/p>\n
\u2018Avalanche of allegations\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n A decade ago, Mark Driscolll might have been an unknown transplant in Scottsdale \u2013 but he was well known in Seattle, where he launched Mars Hill Church. After humble beginnings, it grew to a \u201cmega church\u201d in 20 years.<\/p>\n A 2014 Seattle Times story painted an unflattering portrait of the pastor.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter a meteoric rise and a drawn-out fall, embattled Mars Hill Church Pastor Mark Driscoll resigned Wednesday, leaving unanswered questions,\u201d according to an Oct. 16, 2014, story by longtime Seattle Times reporter Janet Tu.<\/p>\n \u201cThe church has been facing an avalanche of allegations against Driscoll in recent months,\u201d the story continued, \u201cranging from charges of bullying and abusive behavior to plagiarism and overseeing mismanagement of church funds.\u201d<\/p>\n The story stated Driscoll resigned as leader of the Seattle church after being placed on leave \u201cwhile church elders conducted an investigation of formal church charges brought against him by 21 former pastors.\u201d<\/p>\n Citing a letter on the church website, the Seattle Times story noted \u201ca church board said it had found that Driscoll had, \u2018at times, been guilty of arrogance, responding to conflict with a quick temper and harsh speech, and leading the staff and elders in a domineering manner.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Via email, the Progress asked Driscoll if there were any inaccuracies in the Seattle Times story quoted above.<\/p>\n No response was received, as of this edition\u2019s deadline.<\/p>\n The Progress also requested an interview with Driscoll, but was told by a church representative the pastor was \u201cincredibly busy in this season\u201d and not available.<\/p>\n Years after the newspaper story, a Christianity Today podcast titled \u201cThe Rise and Fall of Mars Hill\u201d details how \u201cthe church and its charismatic founder, Mark Driscoll, had a promising start.<\/p>\n \u201cBut the perils of power, conflict, and Christian celebrity eroded and eventually shipwrecked both the preacher and his multimillion-dollar platform.\u201d<\/p>\n The Seattle Times story sketched how Mars Hill grew to 15 branches in five states in a decade \u2013 with a humble beginning of Driscoll starting the church with Bible study in his home.<\/p>\n \u2018Real Men\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n Trinity Church has a similar genesis.<\/p>\n Since 2016, Trinity Church has been at 8620 E McDonald Drive, between Chaparral Dog Park and the 101.<\/p>\n \u201cAs our first home for Trinity Church,\u201d the church\u2019s website narrates, \u201cthe building is a great gift from God. Pastor Mark Driscoll was considering renting a building when he received a word from God that a church building off Highway 101 seating around 800 would soon be available.<\/p>\n \u201cNothing like that was on the market, so the Driscoll family prayed, trusting God\u2019s provision.<\/p>\n \u201cIn a miracle of God, Pastor Mark was able to secure a purchase agreement, and gifts from individuals and more than 40 churches from around the world immediately started to come in.\u201d<\/p>\n With help from \u201ctotal strangers,\u201d the Driscolls took over the former Glass and Garden Community Church, launching Trinity Scottsdale in 2016 \u201cas a small Bible study with family and friends.\u201d<\/p>\n According to the church website, \u201cGrace Driscoll has spent her entire life in ministry as her mom and dad planted the Trinity Church in Seattle.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to leading services, Mark and Grace Driscoll also co-authored books including \u201cWin Your War, Real Marriage\u201d and \u201cReal Romance: Sex in the Song of Songs.\u201d<\/p>\n In Scottsdale, with weekend worship and \u201cReal Men\u201d and \u201cReal Women\u201d mid-week groups, the Trinity flock quickly multiplied, as \u201cover 5,000 attend weekly\u201d services, according to the church.<\/p>\n Graham, a member of the congregation, won election to Scottsdale City Council in 2022.<\/p>\n \u201cI had the privilege of joining Pastor Mark Driscoll on stage for a Q&A with over 700 men from Trinity Church Scottsdale\u2019s \u2018Real Men\u2019 ministry,\u201d Graham posted Nov. 19 \u2013 three months after publicly bashing the mini-storage plan for a space the Driscolls would buy.<\/p>\n \u201cI appreciate the warm welcome and Pastor Mark’s steadfast leadership in building Scottsdale’s faith community,\u201d Graham added in his Facebook post.<\/p>\n In answer to questions from the Progress, Graham said \u201cI had no knowledge that transaction would happen\u201d regarding the church\u2019s purchase of the vacant office building when he critiqued the mini-storage plan at the site.<\/p>\n