A 170-Year-Old Church Knocked Down Its Building to Rise Again as a 10-Storey Block of Affordable Homes

• St John’s Lutheran in Madison, Wisconsin, is becoming a high-rise with 100-plus affordable apartments
• Its pastor said the 1905 building was nearing the end of its useful life
• Florida now allows multifamily housing on religious land with 10 per cent affordable
• Colorado’s version of the idea failed amid local-control concerns

Every day at 3.22pm, members of St John’s Lutheran Church in Madison, Wisconsin, pray, a reference to the church’s historic downtown address. Stateline reported in October 2025 that the 170-year-old congregation is turning its site into a 10-storey building that combines a place of worship with more than 100 affordable apartments.

The Rev Peter Beeson said the congregation moved out in autumn 2023 so work could begin. The 1905 building “was nearing the end of its useful life”, he said, and giving it up would provide “much needed affordable housing for 130 or so families.” The church had long served the city, running a men’s homeless shelter for more than 20 years. Rising costs and interest rates caused setbacks, but Beeson remained confident: “God continues to open doors and pave pathways to bring this project to completion.”

States are taking different approaches. In Florida, a law championed by state Senator Alexis Calatayud allows multifamily housing on land with a house of worship, provided at least 10 per cent is affordable; advocates estimate it could open up about 30,000 parcels. “How can this entity continue to be the beating heart of the community?” Calatayud asked. In Colorado, a similar bill passed the House but died in the Senate after municipal lobbyist Beverly Stables warned it could “undermine constitutional home-rule authority”.

Atlanta aims for 2,000 affordable units on faith land over eight years. “Churches are usually on great corners, and they’re hallmarks of the community with land that’s underutilized,” said Mayor Andre Dickens. The Rev Patrick Reidy of Notre Dame cautioned that changing how church land has been used “for decades or even centuries is not easy for a place of worship.”

Jamaican congregations in downtown Kingston, Spanish Town and Montego Bay often sit in old buildings on valuable corners, as St John’s did. The Madison model, rebuilding a worn-out church as a mixed building with worship space below and homes above, is ambitious but shows what a central site can become. For diaspora investors and returnees, a church-led mixed-use project with a long-term lease could be a steady, mission-driven investment.

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