The former Trinity United Methodist Church will be transformed into a hub for businesses and events
The DeLand City Commission unanimously approved NorthWest Square, a project by a DeLand family to redevelop a more-than-100-year-old church into a market with businesses, event space and more. The rezoning for the project was approved on second reading Aug. 15, and the developers, DeLandites Chris and Jessica Levings, said they expect to close on the $1 million deal for the property Aug. 25.
While the project is still a ways off, the vision the Levingses have for the century-old church is to retain the historic exterior of the church, spruce up the inside and host approximately seven businesses, event space and 15 residential units.
“The commercial tenants will be a coffee bar, taproom, wine bar, breakfast and lunch, tea, small neighborhood grocery and retail,” Jessica Levings told The Beacon. “We’d also like to have a working artist studio, but haven’t yet identified someone for that space. A jeweler would be great for the artist studio space.”
The church, at the corner of Clara and Wisconsin avenues in DeLand, is just two blocks from Downtown DeLand — close enough to bring in foot traffic for the businesses.
Now that the rezoning is approved, the next step is permitting.
“We’ll submit for permits as soon as we close and hope to start work as soon as they are approved,” Chris Levings said.
The family are eyeing a tentative fall 2023 date to formally open NorthWest Square.
