“We Were Land-Rich, but Cash-Poor”: A Miami Church Plans 37 Townhomes to Turn Renters Into Owners

• Faith Community Baptist Church plans 37 townhomes on its land in Miami-Dade
• The homes, valued at about $14.5 million, are expected to sell in the $400,000s
• Buyers must earn at or below 120% of area median income, with subsidies aimed lower
• Organisers say the homes are for owner-occupiers, not investors or flippers

A Black congregation in unincorporated Miami-Dade, just south of North Miami, is preparing to build its own neighbourhood. Faith Community Baptist Church plans Faith Place Village, a development of 37 townhomes intended to widen Black homeownership in one of America’s most expensive housing markets, the Miami Times reported in April 2026.

The plan includes 10 one-storey two-bedroom homes and 27 two-storey three-bedroom homes, with ground-floor main bedrooms in the larger units for families and older residents. The project is valued at around $14.5 million, and the homes are expected to sell in the $400,000s, compared with a county median the paper put at $580,000 to $675,000. Buyers must earn 120% of area median income or less, with the focus on households at 60% to 80% supported by subsidies. Groundbreaking was planned for the end of May, with completion expected in late 2027.

The idea came from Pastor Emeritus Richard P. Dunn II, and the church is now led by Senior Pastor Brandon Dunn. The elder Dunn described the church’s earlier position bluntly: “We were land-rich, but cash-poor.” The church is working with the Collective Empowerment Group of South Florida and Prospera Real Estate Collective, with housing counselling, financial literacy workshops and first-time buyer assistance built into the programme.

Bernard Phanord, president and chief executive of the Collective Empowerment Group, said the homes were meant to be lived in: “This is not for investors. This is not for fix-and-flip. This is the primary residence.” Rev Dr R. Joaquin Willis argued that “the real challenge is attainable housing”, not simply affordable housing.

South Florida has one of the largest Jamaican and wider Caribbean populations in the United States, and many families there rent for years before they can buy. A church using its own land to sell homes at below-market prices, with counselling attached, is a model worth watching. For Jamaican congregations holding idle acreage at home, the phrase “land-rich, but cash-poor” will sound familiar; the Miami plan shows one way to turn that land into ownership for members rather than a quick sale to a developer.

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