The Episcopal News Service announced this week that Bishop Stacy F. Sauls, Chief Operating Officer of The Episcopal Church, has released a Request for Proposals for the development of a parcel located in downtown Austin, Texas, that is owned by the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society on behalf of The Episcopal Church.
Bishop Sauls announced that the redevelopment is Block 87: The Trinity Block, a city block at 7th and Trinity Streets in downtown Austin. The city block is the last privately owned, undeveloped city block in downtown Austin, which has been named the fastest growing city in the United States. Currently a parking lot, it has the potential for over 600,000 developable square feet.
The lot was purchased in 2009 by the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society as a potential site for the Archives of The Episcopal Church.
Plans call for the development of the land with a partner for office, residential, and retail uses along with a new Archives of The Episcopal Church. “The Archives are currently located at the Seminary of the Southwest in space the collection has long since outgrown,” Bishop Sauls said.
“The Episcopal Church has been part of Texas and of Austin since its beginning,” Bishop Sauls continued, “We are particularly excited to be part of Austin’s development for the common good of this community for many reasons, including the fact that our next General Convention, our highest governing body, will meet in Austin in July 2018. We are committed to this development being a benefit to all segments of the community and something of which that Austin will be proud.”
The parcel, known as “Block 87”, is described here.
According to the Statesman,
The church bought the block in 2009 from Austin real estate attorney Jimmy Nassour, paying about $9.5 million. The church planned to build a facility to house its national archives and provide space for meetings, exhibits, research and other purposes. It also envisioned other potential uses, such as outreach services to complement those of nearby social services agencies. But the church’s plans have since changed.