Posts for property stories for the “You Are Not Alone” map
The Ebenezer Plaza is a multi-building, mixed-use, affordable housing development and will include retail, community facility and affordable residences developed under the HDC and HPD ELLA Program. The site is located in Brownsville, Brooklyn on two building blocks, Blocks 3861 and 3861.
After years of faithful discernment, Arlington Presbyterian was challenged with a new three-pronged vision – to create affordable housing, to be a place of crossroads and connection and to nurture disciples of Jesus Christ. APC was called to sell its building and land to the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH) to build Gilliam Place, a 173-unit affordable housing apartment community on the site of their previous building on Columbia Pike. This new vision was inspired by the stories of their neighbors and their struggle to connect within the community and to find affordable housing in South Arlington. As one church member recalls, “the call to create affordable housing was bigger than the old building itself – so, the walls came down.”
Abundant Ground supports the vitality of local congregations by helping them imagine and implement mission-aligned new development of underutilized land and buildings.
Thanks to the vision of pastor Jamesetta Ferguson and a partnership with the United Church of Christ Building and Loan Fund, St. Peter’s church property now houses a thriving multiuse development known as The Village at West Jefferson. It has injected life into the local economy—and the formerly dying church.
Atlanta First UMC’s Development Task Force was formed in 2018 by the Church Council to seek the best and highest use for the church’s 360 Peachtree Street property. Its goal was to envision and implement ways for the church and Atlanta First Day School to live into its future in innovative ways as they worship God, serve people, grow together, and engage the city of Atlanta and beyond.
In 2019 the Task Force released a Request for Proposals (RFP) to bring a “God-size vision” for affordable housing and mix-use community space to life in downtown Atlanta. Later that year Chicago-based nonprofit developer Evergreen Real Estate Group accepted the challenge, along with Ohio-based architecture firm, Moody Nolan, and Atlanta-based firms Goode Van Slyke and SHAPE.
Today that vision is coming to fruition in a two-tower complex design which will include approximately 320 units of housing, 85 percent of which will be affordable (192 units at 31 percent to 60 percent average median income (AMI) and 80 units at 30 percent AMI via Atlanta Housing (AH) Vouchers). The property will include one-bedroom, two-bedroom, and the first three-bedroom apartments in the downtown area.
Good Shepherd Apartments is a seven-story, 86-unit, permanent supportive housing building located in Seattle’s Central Area. This property opened in 2024 in partnership with the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd. Good Shepherd Apartments consists of 84 studio apartments, a unit for live-in staff, and a three-bedroom unit for church use. The building features two elevators, a community room, a rooftop deck, laundry, bike parking, and case management offices.
In 2019, the $60 million Beacon Center opened in Washington, D.C., developed by Emory United Methodist Church, its nonprofit entity Emory Beacon of Light, and the Community Builders, another nonprofit. With the historic church at its center, the campus includes 99 affordable housing units; a culinary arts training center, restaurant, and food pantry; a health clinic; immigration clinics; and a gymnasium and offices available for lease by the community.
St. Lucy’s is a state-of-the-art complex that offers a continuum of housing options, including:
In one location, they offer an array of services to people who come to St. Lucy’s: mental health counseling, life skills training, job coaching, connection to benefits and much more. Additionally, they operate a drop-in center where individuals can come in to eat a warm meal, shower, wash their clothes, and receive counseling.
St. Jax Centre in Montreal, formerly St. James the Apostle Anglican Church, has been transformed into the home of a not-for-profit circus company, a food mission, a refugee-serving agency, and a homeless-serving agency, in addition to hosting church services.
St. Luke’s brings 84 affordable family apartments to Seattle’s amenity-rich Ballard neighborhood. Developed in partnership with St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, this new eight-story project is the result of a community-driven effort to bring affordable housing to a desirable and growing area.
St. Luke’s will consist of studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartment homes and will be affordable to households earning 60% AMI and below for the City of Seattle. Planned amenities include a community room, bike storage, shared laundries on each floor, and a rooftop deck and play area. Resident services will be provided by FamilyWorks.