Old High Point church will soon see new life as facility to help children with autism

HIGH POINT, N.C. (WGHP) — An old religious facility on 4.5 acres that’s been abandoned for the past 15 years will soon see new life.

The old church, which was once a grocery store many years ago on Brentwood Street near the I-75 corridor, is dilapidated with broken windows and boarded-up areas, but a new developer will renovate it into a facility to support children with autism in developing life skills.

While Open Door Ministries made an inquiry to see if they could turn it into a homeless shelter, those plans were never solid and eventually fell through after neighborhood pushback.

The property itself sits on a large lot off Brentwood Street and Gavin Drive and is flanked by homes on the back side of the lot.

While it’s been dormant for over a decade, Zeal Development, which is based in Michigan, proposed rezoning from limited business to conditional zoning office institutional to allow it to be renovated into an autism life skills facility serving young children.

“It is surrounded by residential uses. They are looking at a medical facility … so that would be a good reuse of the property in the core city,” High Point Senior Planner Herb Shannon said.

They’ve also made allowances for taller landscaping and safe ingress and egress from the lot.

“You have a current vacant structure now, so renovating that facility … is a plus for the city and the neighborhood,” Shannon said.

Zeal Development expects to begin renovations soon.

They have applied for building permits, and they want to complete the new facility before next spring or summer.

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