A Church Parking Lot Becomes 59 Homes for Seniors: St Ambrose in Claremont Leases Its Land to a Housing Nonprofit

• St Ambrose Episcopal Church in Claremont, California, is partnering with National CORE to build 59 affordable homes
• The complex will sit on the church’s underused parking lot
• Thirty units are for low-income seniors and 28 for seniors who are homeless or at risk
• The church will lease the land and receive annual payments

In February 2024 the Claremont Courier reported that St Ambrose Episcopal Church in Claremont, California, would turn part of its campus into homes. The church was partnering with the nonprofit developer National CORE to build a 59-unit affordable housing complex at 830 W. Bonita Avenue, on the underused parking lot on the south side of the property.

The plan was for 56 one-bedroom and three two-bedroom apartments over two to three storeys. Thirty units were designated for low-income seniors aged 62 and older, with income limits at 80 per cent of area median income, which the paper put at $55,000 for a single person in 2023. The remaining units would be permanent supportive housing for people aged 62 and older who are homeless or at risk, with incomes at 30 per cent of area median. No resident would pay more than 30 per cent of income in rent. Construction was expected to start in 2026, with occupancy in early 2028.

Crucially, the church would not sell. St Ambrose would lease the land and receive annual payments once the complex opened.

Rector Jessie Smith said the congregation had discerned a new calling. “The needs of our neighbors and our passion for serving and the assets that we currently have brought us to discern that God was calling us into the ministry of developing affordable housing,” she said. “The future of church is going to be different than it has been in the last two generations.” National CORE’s senior project manager Sarah Walker said the developer would stay on site and manage the property.

The ground-lease model is one Jamaican churches could study closely. A church keeps ownership of its land, earns a steady income and sees homes built for elderly people who might otherwise struggle, while a specialist partner handles construction and management. With some older Jamaicans living alone after children have migrated, church land near town centres could support small senior housing schemes. Diaspora members who want to help parents and church elders at home have good reason to champion such projects.

Follow Jamaica Homes on Youtube @jamaicahomes and Instagram @jamaica_homes and on Facebook @jamaicahomesnews Send us a message or email us at onlinefeedback@jamaica-homes.com or editor@jamaica-homes.com