Developers Andy Carnahan and Al Coker are negotiating to buy the old Trinity Lutheran Church on Gaston at Loving. They pitched redevelopment of the site to the Lakewood Hills Neighborhood Association Tuesday night.
The new development would have 27 single-family homes along Loving and 17, three-story townhomes at the back of the property. The zero lot-line homes would comprise about 2,200 square feet each, and they would sell for between $250,000 and $400,000.
The church has been vacant since 2006, and the building is in bad shape. But it sits on a hilltop with lots of old trees. Most of the trees would have to come down in this redevelopment, but a very old pin oak tree at the front of the property will stay. And Coker says they plan to reuse the felled trees as mulch and material to build benches and other accents on the property.
Another developer, Javelin Partners, proposed putting a nursing home there several years ago, and neighbors shot down that plan. Support from neighbors is key because any redevelopment of the 3.25-acre property, which last year was on the market for $2.5 million, would require rezoning. The property is zoned single family, and considering its cost and size, building one house there isn’t feasible.
On Tuesday, most neighbors seemed tentatively in favor of the project.
It would be better, some said, than a nursing home or apartments. It would be better than another church, which wouldn’t require rezoning, and a new church building could take up 80 percent of the lot.
The biggest concerns were traffic on Gaston and through the neighborhood and the density of the project. Most lots in the neighborhood comprise 7,500 feet, but the single-family homes in this project would comprise 3,500. It would add 90 or so new people to the neighborhood. Carnahan and Coker say they have a plan to route traffic through the development so most of it would flow to Loving, and only right turns would be allowed onto Gaston.
The developers argued that higher density in the form of owner-occupied homes could be “nothing but good” for retail development in the Gaston/Grand area.
Even though Andy Carnahan is known for developing condos, he made clear that the townhomes in this project are not condos. They are attached, but the buyers would own them “fee simple”, which means they own the building and the dirt under it. A homeowners association would handle landscaping for the entire development.
The developers are confident all the homes would sell in less than two years. The price point is reasonable, and it’s a desirable neighborhood with very few new homes.
“It’s a very attractive area, and there’s not much developable land,” Coker says. “We’d be building in a market tha has no competition.”
John Whiteside of Coldwell Banker is brokering the property. We will keep you updated on the sale.
