A Gift of Land From the 1950s Becomes 24 Permanently Affordable Homes: A Lutheran Church Donates Eight Acres

• Bethany Lutheran Church donated an eight-acre parcel on Bainbridge Island, Washington, for affordable homes
• Housing Resources Bainbridge will build up to 24 single-family homes of 800 to 1,400 square feet
• The homes will be held in a community land trust for households at or below 80 per cent of area median income
• The church had received the land as a gift in the late 1950s

In February 2024 Housing Resources Bainbridge announced a partnership with Finch Green LLC to build affordable homes on an eight-acre parcel donated by Bethany Lutheran Church on Bainbridge Island, Washington.

The land had come to the church as a gift in the late 1950s. In 2023 the church created Finch Green LLC to steward the project. A 2019 state law and a 2022 Bainbridge Island ordinance made it possible to build up to 24 homes on the site.

The plan is for up to 24 single-family homes of 800 to 1,400 square feet for families and seniors, designed by Davis Studio Architecture and Design, with shared green spaces. Housing Resources Bainbridge will add them to its community land trust, keeping them permanently affordable for households earning at or below 80 per cent of area median income. The homes will have no religious affiliation.

David Swartling, board president of Finch Green LLC, explained why the church sought a partner. “The more we learned, the more we came to appreciate that although we had a vision and this incredible gift of land, we did not have the necessary expertise,” he said. “This partnership is grounded in mutual respect, self-awareness, and a shared concern for the wellbeing of our community.” Phedra Elliott, executive director of Housing Resources Bainbridge, said: “We never thought we would have another parcel of this size and the opportunity to create a neighborhood as we did at Ferncliff Village.”

The story joins two ideas Jamaica could use: a church giving land it received as a gift, and a community land trust that keeps homes affordable for good. In Jamaica, church land given by families decades ago can sit unused. Placing some of it in a trust that sells or rents homes at fixed, affordable prices, and never resells at market value, could protect homes for the next generation. For diaspora families who once donated land to their home churches, it is a way to see that gift housing people.

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