A 99-Year Lease, $5 Million Up Front and 135 Apartments: How Austin’s Churches Are Building Housing

• Mt Zion Baptist Church in East Austin is working with Capital A Housing on 80 apartments to replace 10 bungalows on East 12th Street.
• Ward Memorial Methodist Church’s site became the 135-unit Parker Lane Apartments with Foundation Communities, on a 99-year lease.
• St Austin’s Catholic Parish received $5 million up front from Greystar on a 99-year lease for a tower of nearly 30 storeys.
• St Martin’s Lutheran Church’s plan for 83 senior apartments fell apart in 2024 after it was denied federal tax credits.

Congregations across Austin, Texas, are turning land into housing, with mixed results. KUT reported on four churches that have tried to build affordable homes themselves.

In East Austin, where median home values doubled over the past decade, Mt Zion Baptist Church is working with Capital A Housing on 80 apartments to replace 10 bungalows on East 12th Street, aimed at seniors. The Rev Daryl Horton said: “I want to be able to, as a leader, leave something in the legacy of Mt. Zion that is self-sustaining.” In South Austin, Ward Memorial Methodist Church, built in 1960, had fewer than 20 members by the 2010s. Its site, still owned by the regional Methodist conference under a 99-year lease, became the 135-unit Parker Lane Apartments with Foundation Communities, opening in late 2024. Methodist lay leader Brooks Schuelke said: “If we sold it outright, we’d never be able to return to the community.”

Near the University of Texas, St Austin’s Catholic Parish faced large repair bills, including an estimated $350,000 for accessible bathrooms. It signed a 99-year lease with Greystar, received $5 million up front and saw the nearly 30-storey Union on San Antonio open in fall 2024, with about a fifth of the bedrooms at reduced rates. Parishioner Christopher Kennedy said: “The bricks were falling off the face of our church.”

Not every plan succeeded. St Martin’s Lutheran Church downtown planned 83 senior apartments, but the project fell apart in 2024 when it was denied federal tax credits. The Rev Ellen Williams said: “It’s disappointing. We’re taking a little break to figure out what’s next.”

The Austin cases show the main options: a long lease that keeps the land in church hands, a partnership with a nonprofit or a commercial developer, and an upfront payment to fix old buildings. They also show the risk that public funding may not come through. Jamaican churches with land in growing towns can use the same toolkit. A 99-year lease in particular lets a congregation earn income and see homes built without giving up its title.

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