La Porte board hears plan to replace former Sacred Heart with townhomes; vote held but final action reserved

The La Porte Board of Zoning Appeals on Dec. 18 considered a city petition to convert the former Sacred Heart Church site at 128 Box Street into attached townhomes.

Craig Phillips, the city’s Community Development and Planning Director, told the board the church building is vacant, structurally incompatible with modern ADA and egress requirements and not financially feasible to retrofit. He presented a site plan for about 12 two-story, three-bedroom townhomes designed to face the street and to fit the neighborhood character.

Phillips said the project is part of the city’s response to local housing studies from the Health Foundation of La Porte and the Unity Foundation showing a shortage of rent-restricted workforce housing. Eric DeWald, president and CEO of the Health Foundation of La Porte, told the board the foundation previously committed $5 million to affordable-housing efforts in La Porte and said the foundation supports the variances needed for this project.

Brandon Shields, introduced himself as director of real-estate acquisitions for Advantage Development Corporation and said the units are three-bedroom townhomes of roughly 1,320 square feet. He described an affordability mix that targets 30%, 50% and 80% of area median income (AMI).

Staff reviewed the five criteria for a use variance and recommended approval of use-variance petition 25-04 and of the companion development-standards variance to reduce the front-yard setback. Board members asked questions about easements, parking and timing; Shields said the developer expects to close financing after state tax-credit approval and begin construction in about a year, with 12–14 months of construction.

A motion to approve the use variance and a second motion to approve the development-standards variance were made and a voice vote produced affirmative responses. Board members then noted a procedural omission — that a second public-hearing step or notice had not been completed — and agreed to reserve final action on the earlier voice votes until that hearing is concluded. Staff said the reservation keeps the record open for the required public process.

The board did not finalize binding approval at the Dec. 18 meeting; the petitions remain pending the completion of the additional hearing step required by the board.

What happens next: The record will be re-opened and a follow-up public hearing scheduled; staff and the petitioner said tax-credit approval from the state is needed before financing and closing can proceed.