Affordable housing in church parking lots? New law makes it easier

The Rev. Paul Anthony Daniels knows the names and life stories of the people sleeping in their cars near St. Mary, a century-old church in Palms.

In the past, homeless people have spent the night in St. Mary's Sunday school hall.

So it wasn't a big leap for Daniels to think about building affordable housing on church property.

A place to sleep, bathe and cook “provides a basic dignity” that can change someone’s life and also help the neighborhood, Daniels said.

“Homeless people are part of this community,” he added. “Not just in the sense that we shelter them, but also in the sense that they literally live around the property.”

Across Los Angeles, some religious leaders are evaluating their own properties, encouraged by new legislation that makes it easier to develop land.

A California law that took effect Jan. 1 allows affordable housing projects on property owned by churches, temples, mosques and other religious institutions to bypass a thorough review process and be built in single-family housing neighborhoods. The city of Los Angeles is considering even more exemptions.

In Los Angeles, which has little vacant land, sky-high rents and a homeless population that topped 45,000 at the last count, affordable housing advocates see religious institutions, often land-rich but cash-poor, as an untapped resource.

For religious leaders, building their own homes could be a way to fulfill their mission of helping people in need. And since many congregations are shrinking as Americans become less religious, revenue from the projects would help offset dwindling donation boxes.

But some real estate experts question whether many religious organizations will eventually build, given the commitment required of their members and boards. Years of construction near their shrines could be a deterrent, as could opposition from neighbors.

Some cities, including Chino, Rancho Palos Verdes, Santa Clarita and Thousand Oaks, opposed the new state law as it was being debated in Sacramento. Then-Beverly Hills Mayor Lili Bosse said it would strip local governments of their power to control development, “overriding carefully crafted and informed plans at the local level.”

Leaders at St. Mary’s, an Episcopal church in the Anglo-Catholic tradition, are in the early stages of studying the idea. The small congregation is close-knit, and a few dozen people attend a typical Sunday service at the small, brown-shingled church. An affordable housing project would enrich the church’s coffers, likely through rental fees paid by the developer.

The St. Mary property includes two main buildings, a house and six parking spaces on a narrow strip of land in a neighborhood of apartment buildings. Daniels, who has led St. Mary since 2022, said it’s too early to say where on the property the new housing will be located.

The Rev. Paul Anthony Daniels, rector of St. Mary at Palms.

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

In South Los Angeles, with its abundance of historically Black churches, many congregations are still reeling from the pandemic and declining attendance.

Regina Fair, a board member at Bethel AME-Los Angeles, said her church draws a few hundred people on Sundays but has cut back to a single sermon.

Like other churches, Bethel AME, founded in 1921, has turned to livestreaming during the pandemic lockdown and is using social media to reach younger people. All of that means fewer dollars in the collection.

“People started to embrace the idea of ​​attending church at home, on their couch,” Fair said. “And when you’re not at church, that has a huge impact on giving.”

Bethel AME, which fronts a stretch of South Western Avenue lined with businesses and apartment buildings, has embarked on a multi-year plan to develop affordable housing in its parking lot.

The 53-unit project, which benefited from city rules meant to speed up construction of affordable housing, will serve some of the homeless men who sleep on cots at the church during the winter. The church also plans to build housing on two nearby parcels of its property.

Logos Faith Housing, which is co-developing the property, was founded by a pastor to help churches build affordable housing. Bethel is leasing the land to a group of sponsors in what the church leader, the Rev. Kelvin T. Calloway, describes as a “perfect model” for generating revenue over a long period.

Calloway has seen gentrification affect other South Los Angeles neighborhoods, leading to fewer worshipers in the pews. That's not happening much yet in Bethel AME's Manchester Square neighborhood, but “it's a real possibility,” he said.

Pastor Martin Porter, managing partner of Logos Faith Development LLC, a real estate development company focused on partnering with faith-based entities, in the parking lot of Bethel AME Church in Los Angeles.

(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

“Christianity is in crisis,” said Pastor Martin Porter, founder of Logos and leader of Quinn African Methodist Episcopal Church in Moreno Valley. “We see a lot of empty pews. The natural question is: What do we do with the excess property that is not being used?”

Bethel AME did not need the new state law, sponsored by state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), to develop its property.

But in Los Angeles, at least 600 plots owned by religious groups in single-family housing neighborhoods are now eligible for affordable housing, according to the city’s Planning Department. City officials could not provide information on whether any applications have been submitted under the law in the past eight months.

Wiener predicted it will take a few years for a substantial number of projects to launch, particularly as religious institutions figure out how to seize the opportunity.

“They are not usually big financial players,” he told The Times. “They are a church or a synagogue, not a development company.”

“This is a huge accomplishment,” said Pastor John Oh, faith-based housing project manager at LA Voice, a community organization that supported the law.

Oh sees it as a potential “domino effect” that could lead to more zoning changes in single-family home neighborhoods, which have long been treated by political leaders as off-limits to multi-unit development.

The Los Angeles city planning department has put forward a version that, unlike Wiener's law, does not require paying construction workers prevailing wages or, on larger projects, providing them with health care.

The proposal, expected to go to City Council in the next six months, is aimed at appeasing affordable housing developers who say higher wages and benefits can add 30% to their costs.

Unions, including the United Brotherhood of Carpenters, are opposed.

Pete Rodriguez, vice president of the brotherhood’s western district, called the proposal “outrageous” and suggested it could worsen the homeless crisis by impoverishing workers.

“When will the city of Los Angeles realize that so many of our problems, from homelessness to budget deficits, are caused by the simple fact that too many Angelenos can’t make ends meet?” he asked.

Wiener declined to comment on the city's proposal. He said his law prioritizes protecting construction workers, who can be victims of wage theft.

Some development experts privately wonder whether religious entities in single-family neighborhoods will want to build affordable housing, given possible resistance.

In Laguna Beach, some residents are protesting a church's plans to build affordable housing under Wiener's law. A petition against the development on the Neighborhood Congregational Church property has gathered about 1,500 signatures.

“It impacts the entire community by altering the character of the neighborhood and exacerbating existing problems such as traffic congestion and parking shortages,” the petition says.

But Bishop Lovester Adams, who leads Greater New St. Matthew Missionary Baptist Church in a single-family residential area in South Los Angeles, isn't shy. He called Wiener's law and the city's proposal “a game changer.”

Adams, who is also a senior partner at Logos Development, said he cannot afford to build housing on his church's parking lot at 36th and Crawford streets unless the city approves the work exemption.

The church, which dates back to the 1960s, is nestled among houses and duplexes. Church leaders regularly hand out food and toys to needy residents.

Attendance has declined since the pandemic, Adams said. Sunday services draw 50 to 70 people, who fill less than half the seats. Some older people are refraining from attending because of COVID-19 concerns.

Adams said he wants veterans to live in the new housing: “There’s a huge need there.”

Melissa Balaban, executive director of IKAR, stands in the parking lot of the foundation where affordable housing will be developed in Los Angeles.

(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)

On South Fairfax Avenue in Mid-Wilshire, the IKAR Jewish congregation is building an affordable housing complex for formerly homeless seniors in its parking lot.

The project was built through Mayor Karen Bass’ Executive Directive 1, which accelerates the construction of affordable housing, said IKAR Executive Director Melissa Balaban. State legislation pushed by IKAR reduced the amount of parking required.

Balaban said IKAR is not dependent on the project, which is being funded by a nonprofit developer, to generate revenue for the congregation.

“My hope is that what we are doing will not only provide 60 homes, but will also serve as an inspiration to other faith communities,” he said.

In Palms, Julia Bergstrom, 72, a member of St. Mary's, is excited about the idea of ​​having affordable housing on the church property.

She has noticed the number of people living in mobile homes rise and fall, and considers the years-long wait for Section 8 housing vouchers “immoral.”

Although he is concerned about the changes at the “small and very beautiful church” he has attended since 2008, “that doesn’t stop me and it doesn’t make me sad,” he said.