Community Corner

Developer Looking to Sell Chestnut Ridge Property

Timonium-based Cignal Corp two weeks ago showed the property to Empowerment Temple Church.

The new owners of the Chestnut Ridge Country Club have been courting the interest of at least one prospective buyer for the 240-acre property—Empowerment Temple Church.

Cignal Corp, the Timonium-based developer that acquired the property after it fell into bankruptcy, invited Pastor Jamal-Harrison Bryant and members of the church’s congregation to the property as recently as two weeks ago, according to church spokeswoman Nicole Kirby.

Kirby however said that the church and its members have not reached a consensus on relocating.

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“There is a checks and balances system,” she explained.

Bryant, while touring the property weeks ago, posted a video to SocialCam (above), in which he expresses clear excitement over the possibility of breaking ground on “new territory.”

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“We’re on the property of what God has given us: 240 acres, 16 tennis courts, two basketball courts, a swimming pool. ... I’m excited about our future. I wish you were here. When we break ground you all have to get to Baltimore,” he says in the video.

“Some years ago, at this same country club, my dad used to be a bus boy here,” he continues. “Now some years later for his son to be able to own it, only God could do something this great. Believe in God because miracles happen. ... The best it yet to happen.”

The church is composed of between 4,000 and 5,000 members, according to Kirby.

Kirby down played the pastor’s excitement indicating that neither the church’s board, its trustees, nor its congregation have begun the process of voting.

“There are still questions that Cignal Corp needs to answer,” Kirby said.
Cignal Corp president Armando Cignarale acquired the property after it closed amid financial difficulties and a spate of civil suits against its former members.

Falls Road Community Association members meanwhile have been monitoring the property closely. They applauded Councilwoman Vicki Almond for successfully downzoning the property during the 2012 Comprehensive Zoning Map Process to limit the amount of homes that could be built on the once lush golf course.

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Related Content: 

  • Councilwoman Makes Chestnut Ridge a Zoning Priority
  • Chestnut Ridge Country Club To Close Nov. 20
  • Lawsuits Against Former Chestnut Ridge Members Moved to Circuit Court
  • Council Approves More Restrictive Zoning at Chestnut Ridge


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