Rejected in 2013, Back With 88 Homes: A Baptist Church’s 12 Acres Get State Funding but Still Need a Rezoning

• First Baptist Church of Riverhead, New York, is partnering on 88 homes on its 12-acre property
• The Northville Commons project has 80 affordable rentals and eight for-sale condos
• New York State awarded $1 million for infrastructure
• An earlier 132-apartment proposal was rejected by the town board in 2013

A Baptist church on New York’s Long Island is trying again to build homes on its land. The Real Deal reported on 21 July 2025 that First Baptist Church of Riverhead, working with the nonprofit developer Georgica Green Ventures, had received $1 million from New York State for infrastructure for a project called Northville Commons, but still needed a zoning change.

The plan calls for 80 affordable rental apartments and eight for-sale condominiums on the church’s 12-acre property, along with a 10,000-square-foot community centre. The one- and two-bedroom rental units would be reserved for households earning 50 to 80 per cent of the area median income. The land would be made available through a planned 99-year lease, and the total project cost was put at $52 million.

The zoning request concerns the for-sale homes. The developer was seeking a change that would require 10 per cent of units in community benefit zoning districts to be for sale rather than rent, with those units priced for buyers earning 50 to 130 per cent of area median income. A public hearing was scheduled, with a possible vote by the end of August and construction hoped to start the following year.

The church’s first attempt, a 2013 proposal for 132 apartments, was rejected by the town board. The new plan is smaller and includes homeownership as well as rentals.

The Riverhead story shows the persistence that church housing projects often require. Land, a willing congregation and even state money are not enough without local planning approval, and a first rejection is not necessarily the end.

Jamaican churches exploring housing on their land can take two lessons. First, mixing rental units with homes for sale can widen support and help families build wealth. Second, a long lease keeps the land in church hands. Congregations should expect to revise plans after objections, and diaspora members with experience of property development abroad can offer valuable advice along the way.