Wieuca Road Baptist Church is considering sale and redevelopment of the site it has occupied for 60 years at Wieuca and Peachtree roads. A congregation vote apparently on redevelopment options is slated for Oct. 16.
Word of the potential sale of the 3626 Peachtree Road church was discussed by Buckhead Community Improvement District officials at their Oct. 5 board meeting. A church employee briefly confirmed the possible sale and redevelopment is under consideration, but church administrator Skip Charlton was not immediately available for comment.
In a September church newsletter, senior pastor Dr. Mark Wilbanks said a “Structural Options ad hoc committee has been working for a year to study our current circumstances and alternatives that exist. They will present a thorough analysis of directions the church may choose to create a new and desired future for our congregation.”
“Over the next several weeks, Wieuca Road Baptist Church will be entering into a time of discernment and discussion about our future as a congregation,” says the church’s online calendar about the Oct. 16 vote on the “Structural Options” report. “It is a time for much prayer, much listening, and much seeking of God’s will. There will be a lot happening over these weeks.”
“There are whispers they will be sold. There are whispers they will be redeveloped,” said Darion Dunn, the CID’s director of capital improvements and planning, explaining that the possible change at the church site has put a temporary hold on plans to turn the Wieuca Road/Phipps Boulevard intersection into a roundabout. Dunn said the church online calendar listing about the “structural options” vote relates to the redevelopment possibility.
“The church [individuals]…are leaning toward selling the property,” said Sally Silver, an advisor to Atlanta City Councilmember Howard Shook.
Since 1956, the church has occupied the 4.6-acre property, which Fulton County values at $19.4 million, including both land and buildings. The church building is a local landmark with its tall steeple and façade lined with columns. The church also operates a day school on the site.
Update: A previous version of this story paraphrased Sally Silver as saying church leadership appeared to be leaning toward a sale, but she was referring to the larger group of individuals attending and associated with the church.
Anyone know what happened at the meeting yesterday?