Vineyard Christian Fellowship’s property at 1800 Ridge Ave. — the subject of a six-year lawsuit that was settled this summer — will be the site of new condominiums, the church’s pastor said Wednesday.
The church entered into a contract Tuesday to sell its property, said the Rev. William Hanawalt, Vineyard’s executive pastor. Several individuals purchased the property and plan to build condominiums there.
Vineyard will turn over the 0.72-acre property to the new owners in July, said Jonathan Swindle, Vineyard’s real estate broker. He declined to name the purchasers or how much the contract is worth.
The zoning of the Ridge property was the subject of a six-year lawsuit between Vineyard and the City of Evanston. A settlement was made last summer, in which the city gave the church $350,000 and the right to hold religious services on the property.
But by the time of the settlement, the congregation had outgrown the Ridge property and was searching for a new facility. Vineyard currently holds services at Evanston Township High School, 1600 Dodge Ave., and will continue to do so at least until the fall.
Vineyard also moved one step closer Wednesday to settling into its new home at the former Shure, Inc. site in southwest Evanston. The city’s Site Plan and Appearance Review Committee approved landscaping changes to the property at 2401 Brummel Place on Wednesday.
Vineyard entered into a contract to purchase the Brummel property in February and the property will be turned over to the church in June.
Plans now call for 112 new shrubs to be planted along the east side of the parking lot at the Brummel property to replace old and damaged bushes. Six “islands” of deciduous trees also will be placed throughout the parking lot.
The city’s Planning and Development Committee imposed restrictions on the Brummel property during its March 22 meeting. The committee asked the church to repair the parking lot, fix the landscaping and establish traffic guidelines before it could relocate. In its last meeting April 13, the committee referred the landscaping revision issue to the Site Plan Committee.
The Site Plan Committee recommended the landscaping changes Wednesday and forwarded the issue on to the Planning and Development Committee, which will meet on April 26 at 7 p.m. at the Evanston Civic Center, 2100 Ridge Ave.
