3,600 Acres and 96 Per Cent Held by Faith Groups: Mapping San Diego’s Church Land That Could Hold Homes

• UC San Diego researchers mapped about 3,600 acres of land eligible for housing under California’s SB 4
• Faith-based organisations control 96 per cent of the eligible parcels
• Developing 10 per cent of the land at 40 homes an acre could produce nearly 5,000 homes
• Two-thirds of the parcels are within half a mile of high-quality transit

How much church land could actually hold homes? In May 2025 the UC San Diego Center for Housing Policy and Design published an analysis for San Diego County of land made eligible for affordable housing by California’s SB 4, the law that lets religious institutions and nonprofit colleges build fully affordable homes by right.

The researchers found about 3,600 acres of SB 4-eligible land in the county. Faith-based organisations control 96 per cent of the eligible parcels, with nonprofits owning the rest. The parcels are concentrated in the south-western part of the county, and 65 per cent of them are within half a mile of high-quality public transport.

The potential is significant. If just 10 per cent of the eligible land were developed at 40 homes per acre, nearly 5,000 homes could be built. “SB4 potentially ‘unlocks’ previously unavailable land for affordable housing development,” the report says. It also notes that “Only 2.3% of SB4-eligible parcels are officially designated as vacant”, suggesting that most sites are already in use and would need careful planning.

The report points to Bethel AME Church in Logan Heights, which was building 25 affordable one-bedroom homes for low-income seniors and veterans at roughly half the typical per-unit cost in San Diego. “If even a small portion of this land is ‘unlocked,’ it could contribute significantly to helping the affordable housing problem in San Diego,” the authors conclude.

A similar study for Jamaica, identifying titled church parcels near towns and transport routes, estimating how many homes they could hold and checking which are already in use, would give churches, government and lenders a shared picture to start from. Universities such as UWI, UTech or NCU, working with church umbrella bodies and diaspora researchers, could do it.

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