A 1.5-Acre Church Site, 192 Apartments and 40 Townhomes: A Virginia Congregation Teams Up With a National Homebuilder

• Village of Faith Ministries, a Black-led church, is working with D.R. Horton to redevelop its Midlothian site near Richmond, Virginia.
• The plan is 192 apartments in seven three-storey buildings and 40 townhomes on the former parking area.
• Earlier proposals needed five or six storeys, which county height limits did not allow.
• The pastor said the church bought the property more than a decade ago expecting to sell part or all of it one day.

A Virginia church is turning its southside campus into a large housing development. Next City reported that Village of Faith Ministries, based in Sandston with a second location in Midlothian near Richmond, is working with the Texas-based homebuilder D.R. Horton to convert the site.

The plan calls for seven three-storey buildings with 192 apartments on the front of the property and 40 townhomes on what is now parking at the rear. Earlier developer proposals had required buildings of five or six storeys, which the county’s height restrictions would not allow; the lower-rise design works within those limits. The report gave the site size as 1.5 acres.

The senior pastor, Michael Jones, a former Richmond City Council member who had recently been elected to the Virginia House of Delegates, said the church bought the property more than a decade ago. He explained that the church had always expected to sell part or all of it at some point to support the congregation’s goals.

The redevelopment is intended to help the church meet its financial goals while adding housing in Chesterfield County.

Village of Faith treated its land as a long-term asset from the start, buying with a future sale in mind. That kind of planning is rare among congregations but can pay off. Jamaican churches buying land for a new church could consider sites with room for future development, and think early about zoning and access. When the time comes to sell, working within existing planning rules, as Village of Faith did by keeping buildings low, can make approval easier and a deal more likely.

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