HUD Wants to Help Brooklyn Churches Build Affordable Housing

United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary

Marcia Fudge and regional administrator

Alicka Ampry-Samuel are helping pastors and developers in Brooklyn kick-start housing development on their properties that could allow congregants to stay in the neighborhoods where they have lived for much of their lives. A roundtable with stakeholders was held last week.

An $85 million federal grant program will become available to local governments and planning agencies starting in September. This grant will help churches pay for the expertise needed to handle property rezonings, and draft plans for new housing projects.

Another tranche of HUD funding, this one close to $1 billion from the Green and Resilient Retrofit Program, could help with upgrades for existing buildingsmore energy efficient and climate-resistant infrastructure.

Ampry-Samuel is hoping the new funds will encourage churches to work with affordable housing developers, as construction costs have risen.

Some churches have already started to develop their lots.

The Christian Cultural Center, the city’s largest megachurch, partnered with the Gotham Organization on a proposal that would rezone the church’s 10.5-acre Starrett City campus to allow 11 new buildings with 2,000 affordable homes.

The Church of God of East Flatbush worked with Brisa Builders in 2018 to turn a two-block lot in Brownsville, Brooklyn into its nine-story, 43,000-square-foot headquarters with 513 units of affordable housing.

They are also seeking to tear down a two-story building across from its East 95th Street sanctuary to create more housing for seniors on the site. Bishop Hugh Nelson said the federal grant would help the church work with a developer to determine how many units they could build using the church’s air rights.