The church located at the center of the planned nine-figure Riverfront Village development on the Arkansas River's west bank is officially on the move — with help from the buyers of its current building.
Over the weekend, Metropolitan Baptist Church broke ground on Phase 1 of its new home just southeast of K-96 and 53rd Street North in Maize.
Plans calls for a March 2025 completion on the 19,500 square-foot building, which will include a worship center/multipurpose gym, youth space, adult classrooms and a lobby that can also be used for gatherings.
"We're just thrilled to be a part of the Maize family and the Maize community up here," church pastor Mason Lampkin said.
This new chapter for Metropolitan Baptist Church comes more than two years after it sold its Delano District property at 525 W. Douglas Ave. to developers behind the vision for the $127-million, mixed-use Riverfront Village to the north of Riverfront Stadium. That effort has been led by Laham Development.
Originally, the church looked at moving to a nearby site, but Lampkin said thoughts shifted as the church picked up more members from other parts of the city.
"We were just prayerfully considering whether we stay there — try to stay basically in the area — or even on that site, or if we... completely move," he said. "And, right as that was happening, we were starting to see some new families and some new growth coming especially from the northwest side of town and Maize, in particular. So we really took that as an answer to prayer that we needed to go ahead and look to move."
Shelden Architecture
Plans for the Riverfront Village project, first shared in 2018 by Riverfront Partners LLC involved the purchase and eventual demolition of the church property to make room for new restaurant, retail, entertainment, office, medical and downtown living use. Laham Development and Birds Eye Holdings are the current partners on Riverfront Village.
Outside of the church property buy, in recent years there's been little activity in the public eye involving the development plans and where they're headed.
Laham Development has consistently pointed to a desire to let market signals drive next moves.
In a unique twist, Laham helped Metropolitan Baptist Church find its new site — along with Christi Royse of J.P. Weigand & Sons — with George Laham now serving as project manager for Phase 1 construction at 9701 W. 53rd St. North.
Shelden Architecture and Commerce Construction Services also make up the project team.
Amy Liebau, Laham Development's chief operating officer, said Laham has "built a very special relationship with the church" over the years, as it has "given us the opportunity to create a real city center development downtown on the river.
"This isn't what they do — developing ground and building new buildings — and we have some experience with that. So we just want to give them the benefit of that experience by helping them through the process."
Asked whether the church's latest plans indicate there are updates on Riverfront Village, Liebau declined to share timing specifics but said, "We are looking forward to making some announcements on what we're going to do there."
Riverfront Village is one of two mixed-used developments envisioned for the area surrounding the home of the Wichita Wind Surge, with the other located east of Riverfront Stadium on the Arkansas River's west bank.
Overland Park-based EPC Real Estate Group is expected to break ground on its $110-million development — with plans calling for an eight-story, 165-room hotel, a 180-unit luxury apartment complex, a 260-stall parking garage and 10,000 square feet of retail space — in the third quarter.
As for the church's Maize plans, Lampkin said it will evaluate how the 165-member congregation may grow with Phase 1 before it decides on how and when to proceed with a second phase.
Phase 2 could include a dedicated worship center along with additional classrooms and office space, he said.
Lampkin declined to disclose the projected cost for the new building, but said the church won't accumulate any debt to build it, thanks to the proceeds from the current location's sale in March 2022. Laham Development and Lampkin would not reveal a purchase price.
Lampkin said the church is planning to remain at its current location until the new building's construction wraps next year, but indicated that could be subject to change.
"That's what we're hoping for," Lampkin said. "We'll see how that unfolds."
Courtesy SPT Architecture
