Walnut Street Baptist Church

Walnut Street Baptist Church from the parking lot. Streets run directly in front of the church and to the right of the flat roofed addition, making it quite hard for a growing church to expand in any direction. From what I have heard, the addition on the right will be relatively easy to renovate into apartments. It is the older church building proper that will prove difficult as it will need extensive gutting.

I gather that the tax credits and financing Endswell wants from the state are contingent on the building keeping 20 of the apartments for lower income residents, with two at market rate. However, after fifteen years, all of the apartments may be rented out at market rate.

A major problem with the location is the lack of parking. The Civic Center already has problems with not enough parking for some events and adding the new development will put a strain on the already limited number of spaces. A couple of possibilities are for the city to rent or buy the old Verizon lot just west of Univeristy or, a more expensive alternative, build a multi-level parking lot next to the civic center.