• Trinity Episcopal Church requires substantial investment to repair and maintain its aging infrastructure. The property, in its current state, is in disrepair. It needs investment to bring the buildings up to code and then incremental revenue to maintain this historic landmark building.

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• The Trinity congregation considered several alternatives to save the church. Through a thorough process, Trinity found a developer who has experience in the adaptive reuse of churches and has led similar projects across the U.S. and Canada.

 

• The selected plan allows for this beautiful, historic church to be preserved for the community of Geneva and the parishioners of Trinity Episcopal Church. The plan is for the buildings to be restored to code and transformed as not only a place of worship, but also as a small, quaint inn, restaurant and event center.

 

• The developer, McGroarty Investments, has experience in this type of adaptive reuse project and has done extensive financial modeling as part of the proposal process. Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA and other historic districts have the same conditions, quaint inns, event spaces, restaurants and residential properties….and it works!

 

• The opposition has been outspoken about the desire to merge with other parishes or to make the property a multi-tenant residential property or daycare. These ideas were not successful as they did not address the cost of preserving and maintaining the aging structure of this historic church.

 

• The Trinity project will create 20 new full-time and 10 new part-time employment opportunities, FLCC internship opportunities and construction jobs during development. It will boost local tourism – nothing like it exists in Geneva.

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• The Trinity project has been significantly delayed by a minimum of two years as some feel it will undermine the historic residential character of the neighborhood. Under the plan, the outside appearance of Trinity remains the same.

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• The Trinity project adheres to the standard process for zoning and adaptive reuse proposals. Current South Main Historic District zoning allows for a multitude of different multi-family residential and commercial uses such as hospitals, health clinics, lodges, bed & breakfasts, apartment buildings, funeral homes, professional offices, fraternities, etc.

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• A majority of the housing units in the Historic District are occupied by transient people and non-home owners (79%) (see City of Geneva Comprehensive Plan - August 2016). Almost 40% of the properties are classified by the city assessor as commercial and the neighborhood is already home to Airbnb, VRBO, B&Bs and 7 fraternities.

 

• As time passes, the church walls are crumbling. Another winter without heat will be detrimental to its interior and exterior structure.