On Sept. 16, Jersey Village City Council took the next steps toward converting a $4.2 million property being purchased from Champion Forest Baptist Church to the future site of city hall.
A closer look
On Aug. 2, City Council approved the purchase of six buildings spanning 54,000 square feet—at Champion Forest Baptist Church’s Jersey Village campus—which will house city hall, public works and parks and recreation, as previously reported by Community Impact. The purchase is expected to be finalized by mid-November, and the property is located near the intersection of Jersey Village Drive and Rio Grande Street.
On Sept. 16, City Council unanimously improved contracts for inspection and design services for the Champion Forest Baptist Church’s Jersey Village campus buildings.
“I think [the inspection services are] money well spent to make sure that we're not stepping into something that's going to cost us more money than we had envisioned or anticipated,” councilmember Sheri Sheppard said.
The specifics
According to Sept. 16 meeting documents, highlights of the project contracts include:
- $34,300 for property inspection services—expected to take 15 day and wrap up Oct. 18—by Terracon Consultants, Inc.
- $22,000 for “conceptual design,” architectural and engineering services by Merriman Holt Powell Architects
The backstory
Conversations about relocating Jersey Village City Hall have been ongoing for years, Community Impact previously reported. Developers announced plans to build a new city hall on the south side of Hwy. 290 in 2019 as part of the Village Center mixed-use development.
A few months later, City Council reviewed a preliminary design for the new building. However, the project faced various delays since, and some residents have opposed the relocation of city hall.
In 2022, the city announced a new development partner for the town center project and conducted a feasibility study for a baseball stadium as part of the project's future.
