The Church of Scientology (COS) owns hundreds of properties worldwide, with major concentrations in Los Angeles, California and Clearwater, Florida, a 500-acre compound in Southern California, a 55-acre campus in England, and a cruise ship in the Caribbean. In Clearwater, the church has purchased most of the surrounding real estate near its facilities, a practice critics describe as creating a buffer zone from the public. In Hollywood, COS has become the largest private owner of historic buildings through its acquisition program. In recent decades, the church has engaged in extensive fundraising campaigns and has continued to acquire properties across the United States and internationally. Because much of their property is designated "for religious purposes", the Church of Scientology has saved millions of dollars in property taxes.
Starting with their first purchase of buildings in 1975 when L. Ron Hubbard's flotilla of ships came ashore, the Clearwater campus is called the Flag Land Base, and has come to be considered the "worldwide spiritual headquarters" and mecca of Scientology.
The Church of Scientology (COS) has been buying up properties in Clearwater. By 2019, 185 properties covering 101 acres of commercial real estate in downtown Clearwater were owned by COS or its members. According to an investigative report by the Tampa Bay Times, half were bought in the 20 months prior to the report, and numerous properties lay vacant. By 2024, that number had swelled to 200 properties purchased since 2017, leaving just 7 remaining non-Scientology owners of commercial properties in the downtown core, while "most of the vacancies in the downtown core are in buildings owned by companies tied to the church", according to the Times. Former Scientology official Tom De Vocht suggested COS was creating a buffer around its core properties to keep the public away.
About 75% of the Church's holdings in Clearwater are exempt from property taxes because of "religious purposes". The use of the Fort Harrison Hotel was a combination of hotel and religious services, since their purchase in 1975âÂÂuntil the Flag Building was opened in 2013 and the Fort Harrison was renovated and reopened as a hotel only. The Church saved approximately $1.2 million in property taxes on this property alone.
Daniel Miller of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that as of 2011 "the Church of Scientology owns, by most accounts, more historic buildings in Hollywood than any other entity and is one of the community's biggest property owners... In total, the church owns seven historic Hollywood properties worth about $400 million, part of a Hollywood real estate empire of 26 properties, according to real estate experts." Professor of religious studies Hugh Urban believes COS has purchased so many historic properties to "imbue itself with historical significance". Other issues brought up about the Church of Scientology's purchase of so many properties is that many of the buildings are exempt from paying property taxes, and there are claims that "the historic-building program is simply part of a public relations and marketing campaign designed to bolster the church's ranks of celebrity adherents and distract from the group's controversies".
The Church also owns historic buildings, including the 1927 hotel Château ÃÂlysée, remodeled as the Celebrity Center International, the 1923 Christie Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard which is now the Church of Scientology Information Center, a community center in South L.A., (a 1930s art deco building), and the Braley building in Pasadena, now a church, constructed in 1906 for Edgar Braley's bicycle emporium. In 2016, the Church opened the Scientology Media Productions, previously the KCET studios. It was purchased from KCET in 2011 for 42 million dollars and preserved as a Los Angeles historic-cultural monument. Although church spokesperson Karin Pouw says that restoring buildings of historical significance is a way that the Church "gives back to the community", according to LA Weekly, former high-ranking Scientology officials claim that profit is the main reason why the studio was built, while the Church maintains its tax-free status.
Buildings in other countries are typically restored architectural landmarks. The Church also owns a 500-acre compound in Southern California, a cruise ship called the Freewinds and a 64,000 square-foot medieval-style castle and resort in South Africa.
Scientology leader David Miscavige called for "massive expansion" following 9/11, leading to the purchase of even more buildings along with lucrative fundraising. For example, donations collected for the new Super Power Building in Clearwater were around $145 million, though the proposed construction costs were just $25 million. This led to the Ideal Org project in 2003, a building purchase-and-renovation plan which has been called "a real estate scam", a "money-making scheme", and "Scientology's principle cash cow". Many of the expensively renovated buildings remain empty or nearly so.
The L. Ron Hubbard Landmark Sites program is a Scientology-run initiative that restores and preserves buildings where L. Ron Hubbard lived, worked, or conducted Scientology-related activities. It is an internal branding and heritage program operated by the Church of Scientology, rather than an independently recognized preservation effort. According to Scientology publications, these sites are presented as historically significant within Scientology's internal narrative, and serve commemorative and promotional functions for the Church. They are set up like a writer's house museum and are not always open to the general public. As of 2026, Scientology listed nine such sites, including: