One month after demolishing an old, vacant church building on Wilcox Boulevard, developers are trying to figure out what to replace it with.
The former Cathedral of Praise had long been slated for demolition as the property sat abandoned for two decades following a 2005 fire. Since being acquired by Atlanta-based KH property group in 2016, there have been multiple attempts by the developer to get a project going on the site, which was kept boarded up and tended to as per city guidelines while KH mulled proposals that could have kept the original structure mostly intact.
“We want to work with the community. There are several meetings planned with multiple actors, the community, the council, the city,” Alejandro Zimet, KH development director, said by phone Tuesday.
What’s going there? Developer still deciding what to place at old church site gallery
After an attempt to rezone the parcel to allow for 60 condos to be built within the former church was rejected by the Chattanooga City Council in February, the developer had to tear down the property for safety and blight reasons in accordance with city codes. The denied application was already a reduction from the original plans made by the developer. Those plans would have pushed for up to 90 units and building additions potentially taller than four stories at the old church site.