By Corina Vanek | Arizona Republic
Mercy Hill Church located near 7th Ave & Fillmore St in Phoenix. – Corina Vanek/The Republic
A plan to sell and redevelop a church near downtown Phoenix would secure the congregation some much-needed funds to continue its work in Phoenix, but some community members hope portions of the nearly 80-year-old building can be salvaged.
Mercy Hill Church, located near Seventh Avenue and Fillmore Street, is under contract to be sold to Trumont Group, a Texas-based real estate development and investment firm, which plans to raze the existing church building and develop a 122-unit apartment complex on the site.
Once the sale is final, the church plans to build a new worship facility on land nearby that the church already owns. The affordable housing units on the existing church site are not part of the redevelopment and will remain in place.
The sale would generate money for the new building and free the church leadership from having a maintain an aging building that has, in many ways, fallen into disrepair.
“Buildings are a blessing but can also be a burden,” Anthony Cox, lead pastor at Mercy Hill, said at a community meeting about the church’s future.
Cox said the church is committed to the community, but the building maintenance and other operations have gotten so expensive that if they do not act soon, they might not be able to stay in the area.
A church in disrepair
The church has been quoted between $2 million and $4 million to restore the church, which has extensive issues from the aging infrastructure, Cox said. On Christmas Eve, a pipe broke, which left the church to foot the bill and some residents who live in affordable housing near the church without water.
A portion of the roof has collapsed in a room that had been long vacated, Cox said.
“It’s expensive to continue pouring money into a building that has aged out of its functional use,” Cox said, adding that the church is committed to staying in the neighborhood but cannot use the building in its current condition. The church had previously tried to salvage the building through donation drives and applying for grants, but that did not generate the needed funds.
The congregation has been using the church on the site since 1980, after moving from a location near Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. The church was renamed Mercy Hill in 2015.
“The biggest thing for our church is we want the community to know we care about them,” Cox said. “We really are invested and concerned about the needs of the neighborhood.”
Redeveloping the site but preserving the aesthetic
Cox said the church already has an approved demolition permit from the city but wants to wait and work with nearby residents to try to find ways that can make all parties feel better before moving forward with demolition.
Trumont Group has been working with the church for a couple of years on a plan to redevelop the site. Plans have gone through several design iterations after community members asked that anything developed on the site keep with the character of the existing brick church, which was designed by Lescher & Mahoney in the 1940s.
The church had been for sale for years before Trumont Group became involved, Shane Essert, vice president of Trumont Group, said. The latest submittal from the developer has been modified based community desires to keep the look of the site consistent, he said.
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