{"id":5624,"date":"2026-05-12T21:02:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T21:02:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=5624"},"modified":"2026-05-12T21:02:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T21:02:16","slug":"how-southern-california-churches-are-turning-unused-land-into-affordable-housing-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=5624","title":{"rendered":"How Southern California churches are turning unused land into affordable housing"},"content":{"rendered":"
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When Pastor Adiel DePano arrived at his latest clerical appointment at the Santa Ana United Methodist Church in 2017, its secondary worship site 5 miles away wasa \u201cbiohazard,\u201d with frequent fires at neglected buildings and syringes littering the grounds.<\/p>

Read more Athletes bike, run, swim through Mission Viejo in sports festival<\/a><\/p>\n

Orange County\u2019s homelessness crisis at the time had reached deadly heights, with 193 deaths that year and 203 the year before, the most in a 10-year period. All the while, Santa Ana\u2019s riverbanks and highway overpasses drew flocks of the unhoused.<\/p>\n

DePano and his clergy debated selling the hazardous 1.74 acres for $5 million. After all, their own flock had been on the decline for years. But the growing trend of leasing church land to affordable housing developers won them over instead.<\/p>\n

See more:<\/strong> Homeless encampment cleared from Santa Ana River marsh near Newport Beach<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a direct extension of our response to Jesus\u2019 call to love God with everything we\u2019ve got by loving our neighbor,\u201d DePano said.<\/p>\n

A housing mission<\/h4>\n

Deemed Yes in God\u2019s Backyard, the partnership in Santa Ana is part of a growing, multi-denominational mission that advocates say could turn more than 170,000 acres of land in California into housing.<\/p>\n

The interest has grown in recent years aslocal churches identify Southern California housing as a leading social cause as their congregations dwindle.<\/p>\n

Doug Gillen, chairman of the board at the Santa Ana church, said the congregation has lost hundreds of members since the 1990s, a trend that continues for Christian denominations around the country.<\/p>

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While the church leased some of its land to a nearby charter school, the building on its unused grounds \u2014 which once held Sunday school and Bible study \u2014 had fallen to neglect when the homeless moved in. That pushed leadership to look beyond their church walls.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was going to be a positive for the larger community,\u201d Gillen said of the housing project. \u201cThere were going to be a whole lot of other people who benefited.\u201d<\/p>\n

The church-to-housing trend has been bolstered with research and policy. Senate Bill 4 passed in 2023,overriding local zoning restrictions and guaranteeing \u201cby-right\u201d approval of new homes. It also removed California Environmental Quality Act restrictions.<\/p>\n

See more: <\/strong>Santa Ana gets 1st of 376 new low-income Orange County apartments<\/p>

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UC Berkeley\u2019s Terner Center Policy Director David Garcia co-authored a study on the subject, which says the conversion trend has significant benefits for affordable housing developers in California competing for costly land.<\/p>\n

\u201cLand for affordable housing is really scarce,\u201d Garcia said. \u201cA lot of the best land goes to market rate developers because they can pay higher prices for it. Partnering with faith based organizations can make a lot of sense for an affordable housing developer who otherwise may have to compete for buildable lands with the broader market.\u201d<\/p>\n

He notes the trend is rising, although there is yet to be an official tally of the land partnerships.<\/p>\n