New townhomes could be built on the land of a former church in south Windsor if city council gives the green light.
The city's Development and Heritage Standing Committee met on Monday afternoon, with one report looking for a rezoning approval to build 16 townhomes on the land of the former St. James Anglican Church on Roseland Drive East. The committee approved the report.
Petcon Realty Corp is looking to build two semi-detached dwellings with four total units, and four townhome dwellings with 12 total units. Each dwelling unit will have an attached garage and a driveway.
The church first opened in the early 1950's and held its final service at the end of October 2023. The church was listed for sale in mid-February 2024 for just under $1-million for the 1.25-acre island that included the parking lot, the green space, the church, and a detached home.
Petcon Realty Corp held two open houses earlier this year in May and July and received feedback from those in attendance that they'd rather see smaller style homes rather than an apartment, or condo-like building.
Davide Petretta, President of Petcon Realty Corp, says these homes would fit nicely within the neighbourhood.
"We're going to find people who are living in larger homes in the neighbourhood who want to be able to downsize, lower their maintenance requirements, get into a smaller unit because most of the single family homes are a lot larger. So these will be anywhere from 1,500 to 1,900-square-feet, full basement, garages."
He says many developers wanted this site.
"A lot of the intent at the beginning was for a different type of use, potentially commercial, potentially another community organization, and I just knew that that would bring a lot of traffic to the neighbourhood. We've had a very peaceful neighbourhood for a long time, the congregation had dwindled down there for some time. I just wanted to make sure we ended up with something that was really compatible with our neighbourhood now."
Petretta says the church needed to be demolished.
"Even trying to salvage it, there was asbestos issues, there's mechanical issues, and just the amount of money that had to go into that building to try and repurpose it was just too much... so, there wasn't a lot of value in the church, there's a lot of value in the property."
Demolition work of the church and detached home is already underway.
The rezoning will need city council approval at a later date.
If approved by council, Petretta says he'd love to see shovels in the ground in the spring of 2026.