A 75-year-old church in St. Pete’s Euclid St. Paul’s neighborhood will be converted into apartments
/The Pinellas Vietnamese Church of the Nazarene, located at 1225 9th Avenue North | Google Maps
After decades of Sunday services, a 75-year-old church on the southern edge of the Euclid St. Paul’s neighborhood is preparing to take on a new role in the neighborhood by becoming housing for local residents.
The former Pinellas Vietnamese Church of the Nazarene, located at 1225 9th Avenue North, will be adaptively reused into 20 workforce housing apartments.
The project is being led by local property owners and real estate investors Joshua and Danielle Neitz, who purchased the church and its adjacent parking lot for $1.325 million in February.
“My wife was a teacher for many years, and all of our friends were middle-class people trying to earn a living and stay in the area,” Joshua Neitz said in a conversation with St. Pete Rising. “We need more options to make life a little more affordable for residents.”
In October, the church was added to the St. Petersburg Register of Historic Places, protecting the building from demolition while allowing for adaptive reuse under the city’s code.
The sanctuary of the church will become six apartments and a library for residents | City of St. Pete
Earlier this month, the St. Petersburg Community Planning & Preservation Commission unanimously approved the project’s adaptive reuse plans, along with a Certificate of Appropriateness to preserve the building’s historic character.
Approved exterior work includes replacing windows, doors, the roof, and awnings.
City code states that adaptive reuse is intended to encourage the retention and productive reuse of buildings that add historic, architectural, or cultural value to surrounding neighborhoods, rather than allowing demolition once an original use becomes obsolete.
“This structure is a fortress,” Joshua said. “The footprint is staying the same. The open span makes it easy to repurpose without needing to demolish walls or add bearing panels. We can really create some cool units and keep them at reasonable rents.”
A cross-section of the planned renovation of the historic church into housing | Joshua and Danielle Neitz
The Neitzes are working with St. Petersburg-based Fraze Design to reimagine the building’s 14,284 square feet into a mix of studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom apartments ranging from roughly 400 to more than 1,000 square feet.
The apartments will primarily serve households earning up to 80% of the area median income (AMI).
Plans also call for design elements that acknowledge the structure’s past, including a resident lobby that will display historic photographs of the church and its congregation.
Additionally, the former sanctuary will be converted into a library for residents and six two-bedroom apartments with 25-foot-high ceilings and a loft.
Danielle Neitz said the project had been years in the making.
“For two years, we would pass by that church, and Joshua would always talk about it,” she said. “He would leave hand-written notes at the property, and finally, one day, he got the call and met with the pastor.”
First and second floor plan for the renovation of the historic church into housing | Joshua and Danielle Neitz
In addition to the apartments, the project includes a fenced outdoor area for pets, scooter charging stations, and secure indoor bike storage.
“We are across the street from St. Anthony’s Hospital, and so for traveling nurses biking to and from work, we will have areas inside where they can safely store their bikes,” Danielle added.
The residents will also have access to 40 surface parking spaces (two per unit), an amount that exceeds most new communities in St. Pete.
Fraze Design is expected to finalize construction drawings within the next 45 to 60 days, with interior renovations anticipated to begin in February.
In the meantime, exterior improvements such as painting, window replacements, and roof work are already underway.
“We love saving things—they add to the character of St. Pete and tell a story,” Danielle said. “This project is a dream come true.”
The Nazarene church conversion is part of a broader trend of adaptive reuse involving religious buildings across St. Pete.
A historic postcard depicting the First Church of the Nazarene prior to an addition to the building in 1958 | City of St. Pete
Pinellas Park-based Belleair Development Group has proposed converting the former Westminster Presbyterian Church and school at 126 11th Avenue Northeast into one single-family home and two townhomes. The project is currently in final review for construction permits.
Meanwhile, the century-old Euclid Methodist Church at 919 10th Avenue North is being repurposed as an event venue for religious gatherings, weddings, and private events.
Elsewhere along Central Avenue, the former New Redeemer Evangelical Lutheran Church at 4355 Central Avenue was previously adaptively reused as office space for travel insurance company Squaremouth. After Squaremouth vacated during the pandemic, the property is now being converted to multifamily housing.
