Condos, Offices and a Supermarket: Haiti’s Episcopal Diocese Looked to Its Land to Pay for Recovery

• The 2010 earthquake wiped out about 80% of the Diocese of Haiti’s infrastructure
• A new Holy Trinity Cathedral was costed at US$21 million, with US$15 million for the worship space
• The diocese proposed an income-producing development on the site of the former bishop’s house
• Plans included rental offices, condominiums, apartments, a guesthouse and a supermarket

Four years after the magnitude-7 earthquake that struck near Port-au-Prince on 12 January 2010, the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti was still counting the cost to its buildings. Episcopal News Service reported in January 2014 that the diocese had lost about 80% of its infrastructure in the disaster, which killed close to 300,000 people and left some 1.6 million homeless in and around the capital.

The most visible loss was Holy Trinity Cathedral, famous for murals painted in 1951 by Haitian artists including Casera Bazile. A new design had been unveiled in October 2012, with seating for more than 1,200 worshippers and a new altar placed on the exact spot of the old one. The full project was estimated at US$21 million, US$15 million of it for the main worship space alone, but construction had not started. Congregants were still meeting under a covered open-air structure.

What stands out for property watchers is how the diocese proposed to pay its way. On the site of the former diocesan bishop’s house in the Turgeau section of Port-au-Prince, it put forward an income-producing development: office space for rent, condominiums, apartments, a guesthouse with a restaurant, and a supermarket with a rooftop cafeteria. The idea was to turn a piece of church land into a steady revenue stream for a diocese that runs 254 schools, two hospitals and 13 clinics.

Elizabeth Lowell, the Episcopal Church’s director of development, argued that the cathedral was more than a building. “Arts feed the soul. This church feeds the soul. This cathedral is the center of the 254 schools and the two hospitals and the 13 clinics,” she said. Of the push for a new cathedral, she added that “it’s the Haitians who are asking for this” because to them it is a national treasure.

For Jamaican congregations, the Turgeau plan is a useful case study. Many Jamaican churches sit on well-located but under-used land, and the question of whether a church should become a landlord, developer or commercial partner comes up whenever roofs need replacing or budgets run short. Haiti’s diocese showed one path: keep the sacred site for worship and let a separate parcel earn income. Any Jamaican board thinking along similar lines would need clean titles, proper valuations and professional advice first, and a clear plan for how the income will be protected for the church’s mission.

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