Developers propose rezoning to preserve South Jordan’s century‑old ‘Purple Church’ as event center, add office building

Developers seeking to preserve the historic South Jordan Chapel at 10353 South Temple Drive presented a rezoning and development agreement to the South Jordan City Council at the Jan. 20 study session.

Mayor Dawn Ramsey opened the discussion and turned the presentation over to Brian Preiss, the city’s director of planning and economic development. Preiss described the request to rezone the agriculturally zoned property with a historic land‑use designation to community commercial with a planned development overlay and summarized nine developer obligations in the draft agreement, including architecture, setbacks, parking, landscaping and an option to subdivide the site in the future.

Kip Lambert, president of Destinations, told the council the applicants aim to renovate the chapel and operate it as an event and reception center while constructing an office building to the north to make the preservation financially viable. "We'd love to turn the Purple Church into an event center that will serve South Jordan for years to come," Lambert said, describing a vision that keeps the chapel’s historic fabric while adding usable event and back‑of‑house space.

The applicants said the project would provide about 9,000 square feet of event space in the renovated chapel and add a three‑story office building (roughly 24,000–30,000 gross square feet depending on measure) with a proposed ridge height of up to 50 feet. Preiss said the current site plan proposes 102 on‑site stalls but the site requires roughly 157; applicants propose a shared‑parking agreement with neighboring dental properties to supply approximately 53 additional spaces.

A member of the owning family, Ted, described the property’s local history and urged the council to support preservation. "It's a magical place," he said, noting the building marks about 100 years of community history and that the family’s intent is to preserve the structure rather than see it demolished.

Applicants showed a structural feasibility assessment that concluded the chapel can be saved with targeted seismic and masonry reinforcement and interior structural work; they also offered design commitments—masonry, glass and wood detailing and elevated transparency—to ensure the new office building complements the chapel. Project architects told council they are open to language in the development agreement that would specify exterior materials and elevation conformance.

Council members praised the preservation effort and the applicants’ engagement, but multiple members said they were concerned about the proposed office building’s height and massing compared with nearby buildings (several asked whether a 45‑foot limit would be feasible rather than the requested 50 feet). Staff and applicants said they would study adjustments to floor‑to‑floor heights and setbacks to reduce perceived bulk while preserving project financial viability. Council members also asked for clearer street‑facing elevations and confirmation of the shared‑parking letters of intent.

Next steps: staff will circulate a condensed summary of the development agreement and the MOU bullets as requested by council; the applicants are expected to refine plans and proceed through the city’s formal public hearing and approval process, where the council will have an opportunity to adopt or modify development agreement terms and any requested deviations.