The Church of Eleven22, which has repurposed at least two retail buildings already, purchased the closed Sneakers Sports Grille in Baymeadows last week for a second campus.
Leadership issued a statement late Tuesday through spokeswoman Carol Gilham that it plans to launch The Church of Eleven22 at Baymeadows early next year.
The church, based at 14286 Beach Blvd. in a former Walmart, will remain as one church worshipping in two locations.
“We are excited about the future and the opportunities we will have to serve our neighbors and the area surrounding this new location,” it said.
The church recently was named No. 57 in the Top 100 Fastest Growing Churches in the nation by Outreach Magazine in its latest ranking for 2014. Its weekly attendance now is 6,000.
The Baymeadows property hasn’t been on the market for long. Sneakers closed after CenterState Bank of Florida acquired the property in April in a foreclosure sale.
The foreclosure suit against Sneakers in Baymeadows did not impact the Sneakers Sports Grill restaurant in Jacksonville Beach, which remains open.
The Church of Eleven22 Inc. bought the Baymeadows property for $2.48 million from CenterState Bank on Aug. 5. Compass Bank issued a $1.615 million mortgage to the church the same day.
The 2.61-acre site is at 8133 Point Meadows Drive, off of Baymeadows Road and the Interstate 295 East Beltway. It is assessed for tax purposes at nearly $2.95 million. The restaurant was built in 2006.
Construction plans filed Tuesday show details of the second campus.
Building plans show the church wants to renovate the 19,105-square-foot building into a worship center that can accommodate 769 occupants as well as eight classrooms, a nursery, a community room and other areas. A mezzanine will provide additional office space.
The 17,490 square feet on the ground level will include the 5,380-square-foot worship seating area and 680-square-foot platform.
Bradley Bowen Construction of Jacksonville Beach is the contractor and Hyde Park Architects of Tampa is the architect. The construction cost is shown as $750,000.
The Church of Eleven22 has been expanding its ministries, recently adding the Hope’s Closet thrift store in the shopping center where the church is based at Beach Boulevard and San Pablo Road.
It is scheduled to open Aug. 21.
Hope’s Closet is taking 15,000 square feet in a former Winn-Dixie grocery store in the same shopping plaza, the San Pablo Family Center.
More space in that store will become the church’s Community Transformation Center.
Hope’s Closet sells clothing and home goods as well as new items from its ministry partners, including Rethreaded, Okoa Refuge, McKenzie Noelle Wilson Foundation, The Carry Cross and Alfies Clothing.
“Our mission is to glorify God by providing affordable merchandise in a dignified retail setting that will allow us to disciple people, fund the Transformation Center’s programs, and promote and support our ministry partners,” said Hope’s Closet General Manager Corie Whidden in a news release.
The Aug. 21 grand opening starts at 9:30 a.m. with a ribbon-cutting and prayer. The doors open at 10 a.m. and a fashion show starts at 10:30 a.m.
Hope’s Closet will open at 9 a.m. Tuesday-Saturday and close at 6 p.m. except for Thursday, when it closes at 7 p.m.
The Church of Eleven22 opened its worship center in September 2012 in the former Walmart space, which initially was renovated at a construction cost of $2.56 million, according to a city permit. More work has been done since.
A site plan by landlord Sleiman Enterprises shows that the church occupies almost 65,000 square feet there.
The Church of Eleven22 began in 2008 as a single service at Beach United Methodist Church in Jacksonville Beach. The denominational Beach United Methodist Church launched The Church of Eleven22 as a non-denominational church.
Eleven22 stands for Mark 11:22 in the New Testament book of the Bible. The website is coe22.com.
The Rev. Joby Martin is lead pastor. Services are at 7:22 p.m. Thursday, and at 9 a.m., 11:22 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 5:22 p.m. on Sunday.
@MathisKb
(904) 356-2466