Burbank church wins approval for new location plans

Victory Baptist Church in Burbank, formerly located on West Alameda Avenue, is preparing the way for a new church location and a new name, and it’s staying in Burbank, the pastor said.

Last Saturday, Pastor Nick Reed posted a photo on Twitter of plans with a stamp and signature from the Burbank Planning Department dated July 28.

“Very excited to see this little stamp! Construction will be underway soon!” he wrote in the post.

The church was one of several tenants on a nearly 4-acre parcel in the Media District that were displaced to make way for the Talaria at Burbank project, a building that includes 241 apartments above a 43,000-square-foot Whole Foods and parking garage, which the Burbank City Council approved in October.

Before being displaced, in January, Reed said he was concerned the congregation would be forced to leave the city to find a suitable new location. Since vacating its former building, the congregation has been meeting at Pickwick Gardens Conference Center for the past three months, setting up each Saturday night and tearing down each Sunday after services.

The church will soon begin remodeling the interior of a 12,000-square-foot warehouse in Burbank at South Victory Boulevard and West Elm Avenue. Church members hope to move into their new spiritual home around the end of the year, where the church could stay for up to 20 years under the lease terms, Reed said in an interview this week.

“It was a miracle. It really was,” he said.

As part of its anticipated grand opening, the church will also be renamed to City Light Baptist Church, which “captures the vision of where we want to go,” Reed said. As Christ-followers, his church members are called to be lights that dispel darkness, give direction and provide life, he said.

Not only is the term “victory” used by several churches in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, potentially causing confusion to many church-seekers, he also didn’t want people to associate the name with the new address at 1110 S. Victory Blvd.

“We wanted to have our own identity,” he added.

City spokesman Drew Sugars said that the planning department approved the church’s development-review permit at the end of July after the church agreed to a parking management plan that included a commitment to leave extra time between services and have at least two people direct church-goers to available parking.

Under the agreement, the church only had to provide around 50 spaces, more than 40 of which are being leased from the owner of a building across the street that houses a post-production company, Reed said.

The church also had to agree to bolt in its 250 seats, thus limiting its seating capacity. If it hadn’t, Reed said, it would have had to meet parking requirements based on square footage, calling for roughly 150 spaces. Or it would have spent potentially a year and thousands of dollars seeking a parking variance.

The buildings on the site of the future Talaria project, bounded by Olive Avenue, Lima Street, Alameda Street and the Ventura (134) Freeway, including 41 multifamily residential units, two single-family homes, three office buildings and a bar, are now vacant, said Tim Nelson, an associate project manager for the Cusumano Real Estate Group, the Talaria project developer.

Demolition is expected to begin in mid-September, but the schedule is dependent on permits and other approvals from the city and county, Nelson said.

Reed said that being forced to relocate has brought his church community together and it’s taught him a few things, too.

“I’ve learned patience,” he said.