US Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (with mic) is joined by several supporters of the Wesley Chapel revitalization effort that will give birth to the nation’s first Gospel Music Haus and Museum. The gathering took place at St. John’s Downtown, Saturday, April 6, 2024. Photo by Aswad Walker.

The former home of Wesley Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church (2209 Emancipation Ave., Houston, 77004) has been designated to serve as the nation’s first Gospel Music Haus and Museum, a move that was a labor of love involving many hands both locally and nationally.

The gospel museum, however, is just one aspect of the new development that will fill the 62,500-square-foot patch of land in Houston’s historic Third Ward.

Recently, the city of Houston approved an ordinance authorizing the purchase and sale of the land which will be sold to The National Housing Partnership Foundation (NHP) for redevelopment.

NHP, a nonprofit real estate organization dedicated to preserving and creating affordable housing, plans to renovate and redevelop the property into a mixed-use development that will be renamed Gospel Square.

And though the affordable housing aspect of this project is making headlines elsewhere, in Houston’s Black community the Gospel Music Haus and Music is the center of attention.

Gospel Music Haus and Museum

That’s what Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee focused on during a recent gathering at St. John’s Downtown (2201 Pierce St.), where she made the official announcement of the museum and revealed, in oversized check fashion, the $4.1 million in funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) designated for the “adaptive reuse” of the Wesley Chapel building for the “economic revitalization of Third Ward.”

“[Gospel music] is a special type of music, it’s a storytelling music, it’s a music that told our story in slavery, in the civil rights movement and beyond,” said Jackson Lee. “What is happening in Houston today is a national phenomenon. We want this to be the place where you donate resources to build the most magnificent teaching and museum facility that you’ve ever seen outside of Washington D.C.”

Jackson Lee said the museum will tell the story of gospel music while also serving as a teaching, writing, production and performance facility that will also provide an opportunity to create a community-designed economic engine.

In attendance at the gathering organized by Jackson Lee were several members of the gospel music Who’s Who list including Donnie McClurkin, V. Michael McKay, Kim Burrell and many others.

“I am not only a fan of gospel music, I love it,” said McClurkin before breaking out in song and setting off an impromptu gospel concert.

“We’re going to get affordable housing. That is going to be a piece of what we’re doing. But we wanted something magnificent and a statement of who we were. And what better edifice than that beautiful church [Wesley],” said Jackson Lee.

County Commissioner Rodney Ellis informed attendees that the road to this adaptive reuse of Wesley Chapel was not easy.

“Kudos to all of you who played a role in getting this done… We know it was difficult,” he said. “And after all these years, if you can accomplish this, my God, what comes next?”

Affordable Housing

What’s next are the other aspects of the coming Gospel Square, which is expected to function as a live-work community with a café, recording studio, courtyard, community center, and 50 residential units, with 100% of homes affordable to residents earning 60% of the area median income (AMI).

According to the Harris County Housing Finance Corporation, the 60% limit for the AMI, as of 2021, ranges from $33,300 for a one-person household to $62,760 for an eight-person household.

Renovations will include infrastructure and energy-efficient improvements. Also, according to NHP, the church will maintain its existing exterior structure in honor of its historic nature.

Community members and residents of Third Ward can share comments and give feedback on the proposed renovation and redevelopment of the Wesley AME Church on the city of Houston’s website, here.

In addition to housing, the facility will provide 10,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space and parking. The second floor will be reserved for office conference space and coworking use for lease as well as rental units. The third and fourth floors will only consist of residential units.

US Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee addresses attendees gathered on Saturday, April 6, 2024 at St. John’s Downtown for the official announcement of the nation’s first Gospel Music Haus and Museum. Photo by Aswad Walker.

The cost

The total budget for the project is $26.8 million, which includes the city’s land purchase price of $3.8 million and $23 million to be funded by the NHP Foundation.

The city of Houston and Wesley AME Church entered into a purchase and sale agreement in September 2021. The city allocated $3.8 million in Homeless and Housing Consolidated funds for the purchase of the land.

An additional $200,000 was paid for due diligence and other transaction fees.

Going forward

According to a presentation by the City of Houston Housing & Community Development Department, renovation of the church is expected to be complete in July.