Travis Park United Methodist Church leaders figured they would be further along by now in the process of redeveloping part of their property downtown at the southwest corner of Navarro and Travis streets.
But 21 months after first issuing a request for interest (RFI) to the development community in hopes a grand idea would materialize, the church has made little progress in determining the future of the portion of its property it would like to redevelop. That area includes three buildings and a parking lot behind the church’s sanctuary.
“What we’ve come to realize is we need to be very specific in what we want and what we think is a solution we think the development community would be interested in joining us in,” said longtime congregation member Brock Curry, who is president of the church’s building committee. “We’re trying to narrow our scope and once we do that, hope that it will be easier for people to come up with solutions that get us there.”
The goal of redeveloping the property, Curry said, is something that would extend the church’s mission and provide revenue for the church’s longevity. The church was founded in 1846 and once was the mother church of a conference that extended from San Angelo to Corpus Christi.
Travis Park United Methodist has taken a significant step in contracting in November with CSG Urban Partners to produce a feasibility study examining the church’s redevelopment options, which include housing.
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., CSG provides advisory services such as strategic planning and project management to nonprofits, churches, and other religious organizations.
Curry said members of the CSG team were in town earlier this month to meet with church and City leaders. The contract with CSG calls for a report to be provided within 60 to 90 days, and Curry said he expects the study to be ready in early March.
“They were able to speak to a bunch of different folks around town and get the pulse of San Antonio and get the pulse of our church and kind of do their initial background research in person by talking to City officials and interested stakeholders outside of Travis Park and within Travis Park,” Curry said.
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