NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) — More than four decades after closing, will there be new life after all for Newport News’ historic Greek church downtown?
A recently shared study shows several concepts are possible for the former St. Constantine and St. Helen Greek Orthodox Church at West Ave. and 26th Street, including a restaurant/entertainment venue with sunset views of the James River and/or a broader public events space with needed “third places” for the community to gather.
This effort is actually the latest in a string of attempts to redevelop the 1949 structure dating back to the early 1980s when the congregation moved to church’s new location off J. Clyde Morris Blvd.
Developer Carley Capital Group originally pitched renovating it into two restaurants for $1.5 million as part of the comprehensive and controversial $276 million Newport Centre redevelopment project for downtown in the 1980s, the Daily Press reported at the time, but that proposal eventually fell through.
However before the Newport Centre project fizzled, the Newport News’ Redevelopment and Housing Authority bought the church property in 1985 for $180,000. The city later invested an additional $265,000 at the turn of the millennium to repair the church’s roof and cupola, with the goal of later selling it to local businessmen for a restaurant, per Daily Press coverage.
Another two decades later, the building’s now owned by the city’s economic development authority. , per Derek Perry, assistant director the city’s economic development department briefed City Council about a recently released study on the church on Jan. 23.
The study, which included a building assessment as well the concepts to entice potential developers, was funded through a $90,000 grant from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development.
Perry said the three-floor building (counting the basement) is in “good shape,” though it’ll be a “heavy lift” to restore the space and install new building system elements like HVAC.
“Which I think is the good news coming out of all of this,” Perry said. “While there’s some wear and tear on the property due to its age, it is overall in very good condition.”
The survey found there will be trade offs if future developers use historic tax credits, such as strict requirements about how you have to keep worship/assembly areas in religious structures.
“With that being such a large footprint of this building, that makes the use of historic tax credits maybe not so optimal,” Perry said.
The survey looked at other options for the space such as multi-family housing and offices, but ultimately determined a restaurant/entertainment venue/event space was the best idea.
Perry reiterated that these are only concepts, but the ultimate goal is to “get [developers] interested in the building.
Perry said his department is having conversations now and will hopefully start soliciting bids for the project this spring/early summer, though he didn’t have a ballpark figure for how much the city would like to get for the property.
If and when that offer comes, city officials are hopeful the reimagined church will be important in spurring even more new development in the city’s growing downtown area.
“We’re just excited to see how project fits in with redevelopment,” Perry said, who touched on the soon to be complete James River Stand project that’s adjacent to the church along the James River. The project is improving the existing Christopher Newport Park and connecting it to nearby Victory Landing Park. It included removing brush to give views of the river, and the addition of a smaller open-air amphitheater.
It’s all part of an overall effort to revitalize downtown Newport News through enhancing the waterfront, connecting public spaces and a combination of private and public investment.
“The former Greek Orthodox Church is an iconic property Downtown and we have always recognized its potential role in supporting revitalization efforts Downtown,” said City of Newport News Director of Development Florence Kingston. “Newport News’ investment in the James River Strand is a key project Downtown opening up the James River waterfront. Redevelopment of the church with an entertainment and events or food and beverage focus will reinforce the City’s investment in the Strand and further enhance the our ongoing revitalization work Downtown.”
The city created a Downtown Newport News Historic District stretching up north to around 37th Street down to the church and Victory Landing Park has coincided with nearly $2 million in federal and state tax credits.
That’s in turn brought residential development, Perry says, with over 300 units in the pipeline.
Visitors downtown are also up significantly compared to five years ago. Perry pointed out that the study also found there was significant bump in yearly visitors to downtown that can be directly attributed to the opening of Coastal Fermentory brewery in December 2020 (the study look at phone geofencing data).
“We’ve seen an increase in sales ever since they opened up down here,” said Owen King with Ironclad Distillery, which helped kick off development downtown when they opened a decade ago at 124 23rd St. “It drove more traffic down here … if they’re gonna go to Coastal first they come to us next, or if they come to us they go to Coastal right next … it’s really nice having them down here.”
King says they’re all for any new developments or updates to downtown, especially to the church space.
“Anything that drives people down here is great and appreciated. More restaurants would be great, an event venue would be awesome, another alcohol business would also be a lot of fun,” King said.
You can watch the full presentation from Perry on the church and the greater redevelopment efforts here.