Religious institutions try to tackle affordable housing

LOS ANGELES — Walking past empty pews and stainedglass windows, the Rev. Victor Cyrus-Franklin, pastor of Inglewood First United Methodist Church in Inglewood, Calif., talked about how housing prices were threatening his flock.

Congregants were being priced out of the neighborhood, he said. Many of those who remained were too burdened by rent to give to the church.

So the church is trying to help — by building housing.

Early next year, Inglewood First United Methodist is scheduled 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 older adults. All of them will have rents below the market rate.

Inglewood First United Methodist is one of a growing number of churches, mosques and synagogues that has started developing low-cost housing on their properties. In interviews, faith leaders said they hoped to help with the growing housing and homeless problems that were most acute in California but have spread across the country. Virtually every major religious tradition teaches the importance of helping those in need; the idea fits the mission.

But it can also be lucrative. In Los Angeles and around the country, faith organizations are often on prime urban land that sits smack in the middle of residential neighborhoods or along major corridors.

These initiatives are also helping to bring lower-cost housing to neighborhoods where it is close to nonexistent.

In order to encourage these projects, California legislators passed SB 4 last year. The law allows nonprofit colleges and faith-based institutions to build up to 30 units per acre in major cities and urban suburbs regardless of local zoning rules and also fast-tracks their approval — so long as 100% of the units are affordable housing with below market-rate rents.

Bills that change zoning laws are notoriously divisive, pitting neighborhoods and environmental groups against real estate developers. But SB 4 skirted many of the usual battles by uniting faith groups with affordable housing developers, which made for an unusually powerful coalition.