Many areas of the country are seeing an increase in Faith-Based Organizations (FBOs) turning land into housing opportunities. Over the past few years, our nation has seen an increase in FBOs closing. A report authored by Public Square in 2022 stated that roughly 100,000 churches could close, and many of them have since that report published in 2022. Local units of government, community stakeholders, housing and homelessness assistance programs, coalitions, and initiatives are approaching the faith-based community for ways to build affordable and attainable housing.
Due to the housing crisis, most cities throughout the United States have established housing initiatives and/or coalitions to shape solutions to create more affordable housing in their communities. Through these initiatives and coalitions, a common theme has emerged; faith-based organizations often own large pieces of property that is not fully developed or underutilized, due to declining memberships many FBOs are redeveloping their unused spaces and/or selling the land to partners that align with their faith-based values. These trends open the door to innovative thinking on how FBOs can partner, develop, and build affordable housing to increase the supply of housing units across the country and in our Hoosier state.
FBOs Housing Project Examples:
- Chattanooga, Tenn announced mid-November 2025, that the city, along with the McClellan Foundation and the Enterprise Center, launched their Faith-Based Development Initiative. Which will provide technical assistance and grant funds to eight faith-based organizations to turn underutilized land into new affordable housing over the next three years.
- In St. Petersburg, Florida, the city of St. Pete in 2023 approved Palm Lake Christian Church to start building an affordable housing with 86 units for low-income seniors and persons with disabilities.
- In 2016 a church in Arlington, Virgina sold its historic building to an affordable housing organization to build a six-story complex with 173 apartments, known as Gilliam Place.
- In Austin, Texas, Austin Catholic Parish partnered with a local developer to construct a twenty-nine-story complex providing 200 beds of affordable student housing.
- Near LA, the Episcopal Church of the Blessed Sacrament in Placentia partnered with a non-profit affordable housing developer to develop 65 units the senior population.
- In Washington, D.C., Emory United Methodist Church redeveloped its property and constructed The Beacon Center — which has 99 affordable housing units, community spaces, and a commercial kitchen that provides job training for recently incarcerated people — while preserving the sanctuary.
- In Seattle, the Nehemiah Initiative is working with Black churches in the Central District, a historically African American neighborhood, to redevelop its properties into affordable housing to keep residents from being displaced.
- In St. Paul, Minnesota, the Mosaic Christian Community, which is affiliated with the Church of the Nazarene, partnered with an organization called Settled to construct tiny homes on church property, including a bed, loft, kitchen and small closet.
- Peace Presbyterian Church in Eugene, Oregon, sold its property to the affordable housing nonprofit SquareOne Villages to develop Peace Village, a 70-unit development.
- Atlanta and San Antonio are providing technical assistance to FBOs interested in developing housing. Other cities, like Detroit and Boston, have provided development financing to help FBOs repurpose the houses of worship or land they own into affordable housing.
Many cities and states across the country are looking at ways to reform their housing policies/codes to encourage FBOs to consider building affordable housing. Initiatives range widely in their strategies; however, some common topics are pre-development assistance, building incentives, incremental developer training, and capital stack partner opportunities. Additionally, state legislators are introducing and approving bills that focus on FBOs building affordable housing, below are some examples of policy reform across the country.
State-Level Policy Reform Examples:
In a May 2024 poll, the Terwilliger Center for Housing Policy found strong bipartisan support for federal action and legislative reform to address housing supply and affordability.
In San Diego, they launched the Yes in God’s Back Yard (YIGBY) Movement in 2024 to combat the Not in My Back Yard (NIMBY) movement. The YIGBY team in San Diego describes it’s work as “an action-based, collaborative group of cross-sector professionals called to address San Diego’s housing crisis by activating abundant, under-utilized faith community properties.” The YIMBY movement is spreading nationwide, including supporters in Indiana.
In Kentucky, Senate Bill 59, Higdon Bill to Expand Affordable Housing Bill passed the Senate and is now set to head to the house this legislative season. The bill was sponsored by Sen. Jimmy Higdon, R-Lebanon, the legislation focuses on eliminating regulatory challenges to allow FBOs to utilize their properties for affordable housing development opportunities. If the bill passes, FBOs would be permitted to use their land to develop affordable housing units in all residential and commercial zones within areas with planning and zoning, excluding these FBOs from the planning units permitting or review process.
In Florida, Senate Bill 1730 – Affordable Housing and updating the existing Live Local Act, focuses on FBOs being allowed to develop affordable housing of all types (including mixed-use residential) excluding these FBOs from current zoning regulations.
In California, Senate Bill 4 – Affordable Housing on Faith Lands Act was signed into law in 2023. California’s bill makes it legal for faith-based institutions and non-profit colleges to build affordable, multifamily homes on lands they own by streamlining the permitting process and overriding local zoning restrictions.
Some cities are coming up with solutions through land use reforms. San Diego in 2019 eliminated parking minimums for houses of worship and permitted them to replace parking lots with residential developments. In New York City, the recently passed “City of Yes for Housing Opportunity” could permit FBOs to convert underused properties to housing by lifting certain zoning restrictions around height and setbacks.
Federal-Level Senate Bill 2720 – Yes in God’s Backyard Act:
This proposed federal YIGBY legislation would provide FBOs and higher education institutions resources and incentives to develop and preserve affordable rental housing on underutilized land that the institutions own. This bill was introduced by U.S. senators Mark R. Warner of Virgina, Andy Kim of New Jersey, and Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware this legislative session. The bill would provide technical assistance to FBOs and institutions of higher education, provide technical assistance to local units of government focused on removing zoning barriers from affordable housing projects on faith-based or education institutions land, and create $50 million per year in grants for communities that adopt policies removing barriers to affordable housing for FBOs and higher education organizations.
If passed, this bill would provide federal funding and technical assistance required to build affordable housing on FBOs or educational institutions undeveloped land, thus increasing the supply of affordable housing nationwide.
In conclusion, Prosperity Indiana’s policy team has been tracking YIBGY legislation across the country and has found that the most promising state-level bills focus on developing or rehabbing homes that are affordable to households who are most cost burdened (spending more than 30% of their gross monthly income on housing expenses). These promising bills have clear and simple rules for eligibility, opportunities to build in alignment with public and private resources, and technical assistance necessary for YIGBY developments to be successful.
Sources:
Sacred Space: Churches Turn Surplus Land into Housing – Urban Land Magazine
A call to rethink dying houses of worship | CNU
The Housing Potential for Land Owned by Faith-Based Organizations and Colleges – Terner Center
New initiative to allow faith organizations to tackle affordable housing – WDEF
U.S. churches transform land into affordable housing
2025.04.21_FBAHA_Policy_Breakfast_(1).pdf
Redeveloping faith sites into affordable housing | CNU
Churches Are Transforming Their Land Into Affordable Housing
Gilliam Place | Apartments in Arlington, VA
Terwilliger Center for Housing | ULI Americas
San Diego Council OKs ‘YIGBY’ Reforms For Housing On Church Parking Lots | KPBS Public Media
SENATE PASSES HIGDON BILL TO EXPAND AFFORDABLE HOUSING — Kentucky Senate GOP
St. Pete approves church’s plan to build affordable apartments