PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — As land and building costs surge across Florida, Habitat for Humanity Tampa Bay Gulfside is turning to an unlikely resource to build affordable housing: churches.
The non-profit has purchased three church properties in the last two years and is working with a fourth to redevelop its land. One of those properties — nearly 10 acres — will be torn down to make way for 100 new townhomes.
Mike Sutton, president and CEO of Habitat for Humanity Tampa Bay Gulfside, said finding property has long been one of the biggest challenges to building affordable housing. Traditionally, the organization has acquired land through private owners and donations, but church properties are emerging as a significant new avenue.
"If there's one thing churches always did, it was they would always have a lot of land," Sutton said.
News reports across the state show many churches are facing a wave of closures, driven by dwindling memberships, high costs, aging congregations, and damage from the 2024 hurricane season.
"You can see on the roof the, you know, after the hurricane, they didn't, you know, they didn't have the funds to replace, you know, shingles and stuff," Sutton said. "This one's coming down. We're actually tearing that facility down, and we'll build 100 townhomes on that property. You know, it's almost 10 acres, and it's a good example of, you know, a facility that's fallen into disrepair."
When churches go up for sale, competition from private developers is fierce. But Sutton said Habitat's Christian values have sometimes given the organization an edge in closing deals.
"We had an Episcopal Church in St. Pete, their membership had dwindled, and so the diocese had decided to close the doors of that church," Sutton said. "And they had offers from a number of developers that came in to buy their property and develop it. And they sold it to us for a fraction of that, because they felt like it was a way for them to leave a legacy in the community."
Beyond land acquisition, Sutton said the organization is also working with one church to redesign and build a new sanctuary, after which Habitat will take possession of the remaining property to develop senior villas.
The families Habitat serves are also changing. Sutton said more first responders, teachers, and nurses are now qualifying for affordable housing.
"So the families that we're serving now are probably families we wouldn't have been able to serve 10 years ago. So that it's really based on the HUD. HUD affordability numbers have increased significantly, but wages have not kept up with that increase," Sutton said.
Meanwhile, construction continues at Long Lake Preserve in Pinellas County, where Habitat is finishing its latest development — 54 townhomes on about 7 acres purchased from a local family. Sutton said the remaining 16 families are expected to move in by Christmas.
"So this is Long Lake Preserve. It's about 7 acres we purchased from a local family that had owned the property for generations. About 40% of the property is a preserve, and then the rest are these 54 townhomes that we've developed. We're down to the last couple of buildings. So this will be finished out, and all the family, the remaining, I think it's 16, families, will be moved in by Christmas time," Sutton said.
This story was reported on-air by Michael Paluska and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Paluska and our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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