An Austin developer is back with a new attempt to turn a Northside Fort Worth church into affordable apartments, reviving a neighborhood fight that flared up last year. The latest proposal would adapt the Primera Baptist campus on Circle Park Drive into mostly senior housing, keep parts of the historic sanctuary intact, and add a one-story infill building. A community meeting at the Northside Community Center is set for next Thursday at 6:30 p.m., giving neighbors another chance to sound off.
What the plan would do
The team behind the proposal, O-SDA Industries working with Saigebrook Development, calls the project Irma Park and says it would deliver roughly 84 senior-affordable units while preserving historic features of the church. The plan includes seeking a local historic-landmark designation to support adaptive reuse of the sanctuary and adding a small new building to the south side of the complex. Those details and the meeting flier were reported by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Developer leans on a proven church-to-housing playbook
O-SDA and Saigebrook have been down this road before. In 2021 they helped convert Riverside Baptist into Cielo Place, a 91-unit mixed-income community that kept stained-glass windows and sanctuary details in place. Developers and preservation advocates now hold up that project as the template for the Northside pitch. The conversion is documented on the Cielo Place website.
Why the push stalled last year
This new effort follows a contentious 2025 council process that pulled Irma Park out of a bundle of city resolutions designed to help projects compete for state housing dollars. Without that resolution of support, the team had a harder time landing tax credits and the proposal fell off the fast track. The debate at council spotlighted neighborhood concerns about the project’s scale and how much of the church would really be preserved, and it showed how a single procedural vote can reshape a project’s financing odds. The council action and its impact on the financing application are laid out in public meeting records and a meeting summary at CitizenPortal.ai.
Neighbors split, congregation backs plan
At earlier outreach meetings, some residents warned that new low-income housing could push up traffic or crime, while others argued that rehabbing the aging church would stabilize property values and protect neighborhood character. O-SDA president Megan Lasch told neighbors at a meeting last year that “this is your chance to support an affordable housing project that is able to keep part of the fabric of the community still there.” Rafael Berlanga, speaking for Primera’s congregation, has also said church members support the plan as a benefit for the neighborhood. Those comments were reported by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Next Thursday’s community meeting at the Northside Community Center (1801 Harrington Ave) will include a developer presentation and time for public questions. Regional planning documents cite the center and nearby Marine Park as anchors for the Historic Northside. If Irma Park wins fresh local support and secures a viable financing package, the team is expected to pursue rezoning, which would trigger a full city review and public hearings. Neighborhood maps in the SH-199 corridor plan are available from NCTCOG, and developer background is posted in the overview at O-SDA Industries.
Legal and funding note
Local resolutions of support and city backing can make or break applications in the competitive Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program. When Irma Park lost the council’s endorsement in 2025, its financing score dropped and momentum drained away. That procedural hurdle, along with a separate rezoning process that would follow any new application, remains the central legal and political obstacle in front of the proposal. A recap of the council discussion and the link between financing and local support is available at CitizenPortal.ai…