Holy Trinity/St. Stephen’s congregation would remain on site in the new build to provide community support, spiritual leadership and space for collaborative gathering.
Holy Trinity/St. Stephen’s Anglican Church and the Diocese of Huron announce their intention to build a housing complex on the current church location at 727 Southdale Road East in London.
On May 6, the church and the diocese officially requested proposals from qualified, community-oriented developers looking to create housing on this prime site that is well supported by local infrastructure, schools and amenities.
The congregation intends to remain on site in the new build, providing community support, spiritual leadership and space for collaborative gathering and connection in the new housing complex.
"Our parish community has spent a great deal of time contemplating how we can continue to reach out to our community. As we reimagine our space, addressing housing needs and creating space to connect with and better serve our neighbourhood is most important to us", said Rev. Rob Henderson, Holy Trinity St. Stephen's memorial Anglican Church.
"One way we can do that is to unlock the potential of our property to create new housing opportunities on our site. We look forward to continuing our long-time relationships with our South London neighbourhood."
The project is a part of a wider strategy with the Diocese of Huron, to use their assets to benefit cities, towns and villages across the region.
“In April, a new affordable housing retrofit project was announced at St. Paul’s Cathedral. The Holy Trinity St. Stephen’s project is anticipated to provide even more community benefit”, explained Bishop Todd Townshend, Anglican Diocese of Huron.
“We look forward to exploring and activating projects that create significant community good across the diocese”.
The congregation has worked closely with Trinity Centres Foundation in a comprehensive consultative process to come to these decisions and has completed pre-development studies to assess the community need and create optimal conditions for development.
“Holy Trinity’s congregation is eager to create community good and very willing to work together with Trinity Centres Foundation Realty and potential developers in an efficient and contemplative manner to move this project forward” said Cory DeVilliers, Project Lead, Trinity Centres Foundation Realty.
Proposals will be accepted until June 14.