Information from District 1 City Councilmember Lisa Herbold

In October 2019, I attended a community meeting hosted by Admiral Church to talk about how the congregation could move forward to realize their vision to use their underutilized land to support the community members with affordable housing needs.

This week, Homestead Community Land Trust and Admiral United Congregational Church met with community to share their announcement that they are moving forward to develop permanent affordable homeownership on the church’s land.  The land trust model creates generational wealth for its owners and Homestead is committed to partnering with Admiral UCC and the surrounding community in developing these new homes.  Legislation passed by the Council in 2021 provides a density bonus to religious institutions that are developing affordable housing on their land.  This memo provides an explanation and background; you can read the legislation itself and additional materials here.

The opportunity to add density to a neighborhood without removing any existing housing is an exciting one.

Affordable housing is the foundation for building an inclusive, diverse community whereby people from all backgrounds can have access to opportunities the City has to offer. For me, affordable housing made it possible for me as a single parent to afford to meet the needs of my child. Affordable housing can make it possible for our diverse families to thrive in a city where they make work, a young person to have an opportunity to pursue a career or their education, and allows an older person to age in place.

I’m thankful the Admiral Church is so generously investing its resources in their community.

I am also grateful for the kind recognition I received for the small role I played in facilitating this partnership.  In addition to the legislation referenced above, I also reached out to several affordable housing providers when the church was looking for a way to develop its property.  One of the most gratifying parts of my job has been connecting people with a shared vision to help them realize their goals.  I’m just thrilled that in this instance, Homestead was a match!