Worship Center Update
The planning for the New Worship Center continues to progress. The church is in the process submitting different requests to the City. An application has been made to the Board of Adjustments for the city of Austin concerning the height of the building. Because the school next door is zoned as a single family home it limits the height of the new building and tower. Any other business would not have imposed these limitations even if they had the same zoning as the school. Therefore we will be asking for variance due to this hardship.
The church is also in the process of requesting a zoning change for the church and submitting a change in the property lines between the church and the church owned homes. The good news is that the neighborhood association has supported the changes made to the property lines and the new zoning for the church. The zoning change is needed so that the new building can be built. (Currently the church building exceeds the impervious coverage codes and needed a change in the zoning for any new construction that increases the size of the church.) The church is also in the process of filing for a new Site Development Plan with the city. All of these applications and filings need to be approved by the city before we can actually begin building the Worship Center.
The architects have finished 50% of the Construction Documents. Based on these documents Flynn Construction and the New Building Committee will review the estimated costs and determine alternative materials and design to reduce the overall cost of the project. When the Construction Documents are finished, Flynn Construction will begin the process of asking for bids from sub-contractors. After they receive all of their bids, the church will receive a Guaranteed Maximum Price from the contractors. This means that they guarantee that the cost of the new building will not exceed that amount.
On another note, the Finance Committee is starting the process of securing a Construction Loan. While money will be coming in during the next 3 years from the Imagine Pledge Campaign, and church owned homes will be sold, the construction loan will provide the necessary funds to cover any gap so that the project can be completed by September of 2011.