What would Jesus do? Addressing the housing crisis, some congregations say.

Real estate

In Los Angeles and across the country, religious organizations are often found on prime urban land, located right in the middle of residential neighborhoods or along major corridors.

By Conor Dougherty, New York Times Service

May 3, 2024 | 10:18 a.m.

LOS ANGELES — Passing empty pews and stained glass windows, the Rev. Victor Cyrus-Franklin, pastor of Inglewood First United Methodist Church in Inglewood, Calif., explained how housing prices threatened his flocks.

Worshipers were being expelled from the neighborhood, he said. Many of those who remained were too burdened by rent to donate to the church.

So the Church is trying to help – by building housing.

Early next year, Inglewood First United Methodist is expected to begin construction on 60 studio apartments that will replace three empty buildings behind its chapel that until a few years ago were occupied by a school.

Half of the units will be reserved for seniors. All will have rents below market rate.

Inglewood First United Methodist is among a growing number of churches, mosques and synagogues that have begun developing low-cost housing on their properties. In interviews, religious leaders said they hope to help address growing housing and homelessness problems that are most acute in California but have spread across the country. Virtually all major religious traditions teach the importance of helping those in need; the idea matches the mission.

But it can also be lucrative. In Los Angeles and across the country, religious organizations are often found on prime urban land, located right in the middle of residential neighborhoods or along major corridors.

Today, as Americans of all stripes worship less, these properties are often aging and underutilized, filled with empty parking lots and meeting rooms where no one meets. By redeveloping their property into affordable housing, congregations hope to create a rental income stream that can replace declining income and declining membership.

These initiatives also help bring lower-cost housing to neighborhoods where it is almost non-existent.

To encourage these projects, California lawmakers passed SB 4 last year. The law allows nonprofit colleges and faith-based institutions to build up to 30 units per acre in large cities and urban suburbs, regardless of local zoning rules, and also expedites their approval – provided 100 % of units are affordable housing with lower market rate rents.

Bills that change zoning laws are notoriously divisive, pitting neighborhoods and environmental groups against real estate developers. But SB 4 avoided many of the usual battles by uniting religious groups with affordable housing developers, resulting in a particularly powerful coalition.