In a red-hot downtown where condos, a grocery and a nightclub are treated like the second coming, a church has quietly bought up almost an entire city block.
By WAVENEY ANN MOORE
Published November 16, 2003
[Times photo: Cherie Diez]
Seen behind the Williams Park band shell, First United Methodist Church has a portfolio worth millions. "If we are going to answer God's call to mission, you've got to have the real estate to do it," said member Robert Ulrich. The church pays taxes on property not used for religious purposes, he said.
ST. PETERSBURG - In a resurging downtown jumping with new luxury condominiums, retail shops and entertainment, one solo owner controls nearly an entire block of prime real estate.
It's not a developer. It's a church.
First United Methodist Church, at 212 Third St. N, and its historic 1926 sanctuary stand out among the neighboring structures. What is less apparent are the other holdings the church has quietly and methodically acquired over the years on the same block.
Robert Ulrich, the former mayor, said the church began acquiring property in the late 1940s or early '50s for additional parking. Ulrich, who first attended First United Methodist as a child with his parents, said it's no accident it now owns what has become prized downtown property.
"We formed a long-range planning committee and as we began to contemplate our future in downtown, we realized that what our forefathers had done was prescient," he said. "We adopted a policy of acquiring land on that square, so as time and finances permitted, we have been acquiring lot by lot, building by building."
The reason is simple, he said. "If we are going to answer God's call to mission, you've got to have the real estate to do it."
The church's patchwork of acquisitions sit across from Williams Park and about a block from BayWalk, the bustling $40-million entertainment and retail complex. The church is a short walk from the luxury condominiums and apartments that have changed St. Petersburg's skyline in recent years. New neighbors might be in the offing.
Developer Grady Pridgen wants to build the city's tallest condominium tower at Third Avenue N between Second and Third streets. The owner of Jannus Landing, John Claude Bodziak, wants to open a nightclub at 232 Second St. N. Bodziak will need a special permit to serve alcohol, because his club would be within 400 feet of a house of worship.
First United Methodist, where about 600 to 700 people attend Sunday service, is a thriving downtown church at a time when many inner-city congregations across the country are struggling. Its onetime neighbor, First Baptist Church of St. Petersburg, literally picked up its cross and moved from a cramped block to wide open space on Gandy Boulevard. First Congregational United Church of Christ closed its doors in 1994 and sat empty for several years before Pridgen bought the property. St. Peter's Episcopal Cathedral, another neighbor, has struggled with a lack of parking for its congregation. Recently the cathedral fought for permission to tear down the historic former Baptist sanctuary it owns in order to expand its ministry and alleviate parking problems.
Scott Rutland, chairman of First United Methodist's board of trustees, thanks God for the church's ability to swim against the current.
"God sent us the right people at the right time, and those folks have been attuned not only to what God was telling them in that regard but attuned to what was happening in St. Petersburg," he said.
Now, said former mayor Ulrich, with the exception of three pieces of property - two offices and a hotel - the church owns everything between Second and Third avenues N and Fourth and Third streets N. One of the office buildings belongs to St. Peter's Cathedral. First United Methodist has notified the Episcopal congregation that it wants to purchase the property, Ulrich said.
According to Pinellas County property appraiser records, First United Methodist's historical building has a just market value of more than $4-million, a sum based on the price of the land and what it would cost to replace the church, said Erin Moore, deputy for assessment administration. Other parcels owned by the church have a just market value, based on sales, of about $1-million.
City Council member Virginia Littrell, who attends the church where her great-grandparents worshipped, said First United Methodist's desire to expand its downtown ministry and the city's push for development "will coexist and dovetail quite nicely. There are so many needs in the downtown for outreach ministries and so many businesses who would like to see that outreach take place," she said.
The church pays taxes on property not used for religious purposes, Ulrich said. For instance, he said, it pays taxes for the parking lots it rents during the week and the office building it leases to St. Petersburg College.
Founded in 1889, First United Methodist Church is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The building, completed in 1926, features Gothic revival architecture, wood interiors and Tiffany-style stained glass windows. In recent years, extensive repairs have been done. Work has included the eight-story bell tower and the 10-by-18-foot stained glass window reproduction of Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper - visible to passers-by from Second Avenue N - has been releaded. The church's red brick exterior also has been repointed and a new fellowship hall built.
The most recent property acquisitions have included the former headquarters of the Episcopal Diocese of Southwest Florida at 201 Fourth St. N, which is being leased to SPC. A house it purchased three years ago is being used by a local branch of the national K-Life Christian youth program. The church, though, has asked the group to find new quarters.
The Rev. H. Clark Edwards, the church's minister, said its downtown location comes with responsibilities and challenges. It's across from Williams Park, a gathering point for the homeless.
"We try to help as best we can," said Edwards, noting that the church youth group distributes meals.
"We believe that we are right where God wants us to be."
