197 Apartments Above, a New Sanctuary Below: A Pentecostal Church’s $72 Million Deal in Washington’s Navy Yard

• Developer Foulger-Pratt planned 197 luxury apartments at 60 Eye Street SW in Washington’s Navy Yard neighbourhood.
• Bethel Pentecostal Tabernacle, an Assemblies of God church, was to get a 17,000-square-foot sanctuary on the ground floor.
• The $72 million project was funded partly by $16 million of equity from 456 investors through CrowdStreet and a $43.2 million EagleBank loan.
• Construction was due to start in October 2021, with occupancy in autumn 2023.

A Pentecostal congregation in Washington, DC, is getting a new sanctuary as part of a large apartment building on its land. Commercial Observer reported that Foulger-Pratt would build luxury apartments on the church’s site in the Navy Yard neighbourhood.

The project at 60 Eye Street SW was to include 197 luxury apartments, with a 17,000-square-foot sanctuary on the ground floor for Bethel Pentecostal Tabernacle, an Assemblies of God congregation. The project cost was $72 million. Construction was due to start in October 2021, with residents moving in by autumn 2023.

Financing included $16 million of equity raised from 456 investors through the online platform CrowdStreet and a $43.2 million construction loan from EagleBank.

Cameron Pratt, managing partner and chief executive of Foulger-Pratt, said: “The D.C. metro area is experiencing record absorption of Class A apartments. We are extremely bullish on the D.C. multifamily market in the short and long term.” On the crowdfunding, he said: “We’re pleased with the reception by retail investors and the speed and ease of the process.”

In a fast-growing district, a church’s land can be worth far more than its old building. By partnering with a developer, Bethel Pentecostal gets a new purpose-built sanctuary and stays in the neighbourhood, while the developer builds homes on the site. Jamaican churches on valuable land in growing areas such as New Kingston, Portmore or Montego Bay could consider similar deals, where a developer builds a new church as part of a larger project. Such agreements need careful legal advice: who owns what, what happens if the project stalls, and how long the church’s rights last. The use of crowdfunding here also shows how small investors can take part in property projects, though they carry real risk.

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