Columbia Citizens

Does anyone know who bought the Mission Baptist Church (on Ferdinand and 39th) and what the proposed development plans are for the lot. We neighbors are of course concerned about parking, density and congestion!

Thanks!

The recorded deed shows the buyer to be LR Columbus LLC.

Same owner at 4900 39th Ave S subdivided one lot into 4 last April - is that the construction to the South across the street?

Right, same owner. Across the street, they replaced eight apartments with five townhomes.

This time at least the result will likely be more housing, instead of less…

On the church property, the western portion is zoned for townhouses and apartments, encompassing about the same area as the site across Ferdinand. The rest is zoned single family.

I think it's not likely to be enough homes that it'll involve Design Review, unless they choose to go through it for the flexibility it offers. So probably the only public notice will be through the subdivision — not a meaningful venue for productive public input, in my opinion.

Other than design review, how else might some input be meaningfully given to increase the chances of a good development there?

I spoke with Pete Lamb yesterday. He's the church's new owner.

This is the church on Ferdinand and 39th, kitty-corner from the big surface parking lot and across Ferdinand from some '50s apartments newly reborn as townhouses.

Pete says he plans to turn the church into housing, keeping the walls and roof intact. He envisions walkup entries on 39th and on Ferdinand. He's puzzling over what to do with the uphill wing, and he's got some creative ideas.

He specializes in renovating and retrofitting buildings. We have Pete to thank for the upgrade to the Ferdinand Building. Just to jog our memories, the building that houses Geraldine's recently looked like this:

And this scene? (thanks, SDP) Also Pete's creation, for having renovated both buildings where Jones BBQ and Kallaloo are now.

What Pete has in mind for the church involves no Design Review, and the site is just outside the historic district's boundaries. There might be some public process associated with the conversion of the church to residential. But I'm no longer concerned. I'm looking forward to what we'll see there.

The Department of Planning and Development has published a notice of application for a project at 3902 S Ferdinand St:

Land Use Application to change the use of an existing 15,119 sq. ft. religious facility (Mission Baptist Church) to an 8 unit residential building and bed and breakfast (5 rooms with one caretaker unit) in an environmentally critical area. Parking for nine vehicles will be located in the basement and four vehicles will be located in a new 860 sq. ft. carport.

This is Pete Lamb's project — he's focused on rehabilitating Columbia City's older buildings, to great effect, I think. This would convert the existing church into living space for residents and guests. We've seen what he did with the Greater Revival Church (now the Magellan Building, where Kallaloo and Verve are tenants). We've also seen his transformation of the space where Geraldine's is now. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens here.