“Leverage That Land, Not Surrender It”: A 30,000-Member Brooklyn Church Plans a $1.2 Billion Urban Village

• Christian Cultural Center owns 10.5 acres in East New York, Brooklyn
• It is planning a $1.2 billion urban village with affordable housing at its core
• Plans include a trade school, supermarket, arts centre, 24-hour childcare and senior living
• The church will be an equal 50-50 partner with its developer

The Christian Cultural Center, a 30,000-member nondenominational congregation in East New York, Brooklyn, wants to turn its land into a neighbourhood. Christianity Today reported in August 2022 that the church, led by its founder, Pastor A.R. Bernard, is planning a $1.2 billion urban village on 10.5 acres it owns.

The proposal goes well beyond housing. Alongside affordable homes, the plans include a trade school, a supermarket, a performing arts centre, round-the-clock childcare for night-shift workers and senior living. The church bought six acres at the site and later added four more, building its current sanctuary in the late 1990s. Part of the land is now a parking lot rented to a transportation company.

Bernard, who worked in banking before entering ministry and has served on the city’s Economic Development Corporation board, is clear that the church will not simply sell. “If I’ve got land, and it’s valuable, I’m going to leverage that land to partner in its future, not surrender it,” he said. The church will hold a 50-50 stake with its development partner.

His reasoning is both practical and theological. “My theology is summed up in two words: human flourishing,” he said. Drawing on the urban thinker Jane Jacobs, he argued that busy streets are safer streets: “When you have lights, activity, shopkeepers, people, you have eyes on the street.” The project still has to pass through New York’s land use review, including the borough president, city planners and the City Council.

“Church is a generational service, birth to death,” Bernard said. “How can we make a difference using the land that’s available to us?”

East New York and the surrounding parts of Brooklyn are home to many Caribbean and Jamaican families, and the idea of a church partnering on land rather than selling it has lessons for congregations in Jamaica too. Churches holding large plots in growing towns can protect their ownership, share in the value created and shape development around real needs such as affordable homes, skills training and childcare, provided they take sound legal and financial advice before signing any partnership.

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