As congregations shrink, churches are looking to make use of their vacant land. In the D.C. region, faith-based institutions owned about 800 vacant parcels in 2019. Those parcels could hold up to 108,000 new homes. But as developers look to team up with churches they are facing many hurdles that are discouraging them from even starting. Developers can spend years securing local zoning and regulatory approvals to build large apartment buildings. At the same time, they still need to pay property taxes and other expenses like workers, architects ets. According to a joint study from the National Association of Home Builders and the National Multifamily Housing Council, these delays typically account for 40 percent of a developer’s expenses. NIMBY residents also play a huge factor in the process as they can further delay the project indefinitely.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/03/08/churches-affordable-housing