Houston’s churches own hundreds of acres of land. At the third annual Faith in Affordable Housing Summit, experts agreed that the land can be used for homes.
Houston City Councilmember Tiffany D. Thomas, who chairs the council’s Housing and Affordability Committee and hosted the event, said 414 acres of land owned by faith institutions in Houston have been identified so far.
“This is how we leverage our power,” Thomas said. “This is how we identify ourselves.”
Declining congregations and revenue point to the right time for churches to rethink their assets, said Pastor Rudy Rasmus of St. John’s Downtown.
“It is a great opportunity for the church to step in and fill a gap,” Rasmus said. “If we look at the history of churches in America…we know that health care, child care, all of the gaps in services that for-profit entities don’t cover, churches often step into that space. It’s time for the church to step into housing.”
Rasmus advised first-time developers to step in and learn from those with an established track record.
“It’s nothing wrong with being a copycat as long as you copy the right cat,” he joked.
City officials weigh in
Mayor Pro Tem Martha Castex-Tatum explained how this partnership can work in her own district, pointing to a senior development being built at New Faith Church on West Orem and Fuqua in partnership with Pastor Andre Lewis and Donna Rickenbacker and the city’s housing and development team.
“Ministry doesn’t stop at the church doors. Ministry is also about meeting the needs of the people who live right outside of our church doors,” she said. “Aging in place should not be a privilege reserved for those who can afford it.”
“All of the gaps in services that for-profit entities don’t cover, churches often step into that space. It’s time for the church to step into housing.”
– Pastor Rudy Rasmus
A supply problem, or an affordability problem?
New homes being built in Houston are out of reach for many residents, said U.S. Rep. Christian Menefee, who represents Texas’ 18th Congressional District.
“We have a huge supply of housing here in Houston, but most of y’all know that the supply that we have is unaffordable for the average family in Houston,” Menefee said.
Per his estimate, the average home price right is about $330,000, while the average family can only afford just under $200,000.
Alongside the issue of unaffordability is the challenge of homelessness city officials need to address.
Dr. Ben King, an epidemiologist and founding director of the University of Houston’s Institute for Housing, Homelessness and Health, who has spent more than two decades working in Houston’s continuum of care system, called homelessness “a market issue.”
“There’s just not housing that they can afford to be in,” King said. “The vast majority of housing is developed for a different economic strata. What we need is a business purpose focusing on development for people who actually need that affordable range of housing.”
The issue requires a mission-based approach with a philanthropic commitment, he added.
One such is the recent $48 million, three-year investment called Pathways to Independence, which philanthropic organizations unveiled.
Keeping homeowners in their homes
Dr. Ashley Allen, executive director of the Houston Community Land Trust, said building homes is not a problem in Houston. But when it comes to people being able to continue living in them is a challenge.
“Even if you can get in there, you can’t stay there,” Allen said. “We always get excited about the groundbreaking. We get excited about the ribbon cutting. We get excited about the closing, but nobody goes back five years later to make sure that that family is not house poor.”
Adding that it is imperative to check if the family can pay their property taxes and have home insurance, especially during hurricane season, Allen stressed the importance of stewardship.
“We don’t leave the family once they close on the home,” she said. “It’s not wealth if you just own the home or if you can’t maintain the home or if you’re behind on your property taxes and the county is going to come and take it.”
Training and money for new developers
Dr. Courtney Johnson-Rose announced that the National Association of Real Estate Brokers’ Developers Academy is coming to Houston.
The program operates in 38 states and has 400 graduates, with 206 units built by alumni and 600 more in the pipeline. Congressman Al Green selected the Houston effort for $1.2 million in community-impact funding for emerging developers in Congressional District 9, she added.
“The majority of these funds will be used for pre-development grants,” Rose added. “You don’t have to pay back a grant. So we are in a position where we’ll be able to grant $10,000 to $50,000 to our developers that graduate from our program.”
Opportunity zones
Gwen Tillotson-Bell, the mayor’s chief economic development officer, explained how Opportunity Zones could pair investors with church land.
The zones ensure that capital gains taxes are invested in communities that have been underrepresented and underinvested for years.
“It’s a program that we’re excited about because it finally draws attention and draws developers and investors in communities that they might not have invested in but for this program,” Tillotson-Bell said.
Estate planning
Unclear title is also a major threat to family-owned property, warned Brandon Cofield, Harris County’s public probate administrator.
He recommends tools like wills but cautions against guardrails.
“Wills are an effective tool, but they’re only as effective as the heirs or the beneficiaries know what to do with that will,” Cofield said.
But he was skeptical about trusts, which he said cost $3,500 to $5,000 to create.
“In Black and brown communities there is a lack of information and awareness about the process,” Cofield said. “Part of it is just the financial barrier. People get frustrated because a lot of things in probate, you have to have an attorney.”
