53 Cottages on Church Land: A Chattanooga Congregation’s Ground Lease Is First Under a New Zoning Programme

• Greater Tucker Missionary Baptist Church owns the site at 1107 North Moore Road in Chattanooga’s Brainerd area.
• The land is ground-leased to the Tucker Oasis project through the church’s community development corporation.
• The plan is 53 rental cottages and small buildings for seniors and families; six units are reserved for households at or below 80 per cent of area median income.
• It is the first development under Chattanooga’s Voluntary Incentives Program; construction is due to start in May 2027.

A Chattanooga church is putting its land to work for housing without selling it. Chattanoogan.com reported that 53 homes are planned on church property on Moore Road under the city’s Voluntary Incentives Program.

The site at 1107 North Moore Road, in the Brainerd area, belongs to Greater Tucker Missionary Baptist Church. It will be ground-leased to the project, known as Tucker Oasis, through the church’s community development corporation. The applicant and developer is Invest Chattanooga, a subsidiary of the Chattanooga Housing Authority, with Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise as fee co-developer and property manager.

The plan is a mixed-income cottage court of one- and two-bedroom homes, with senior and family sections. It includes 12 units in three four-unit buildings, 18 in nine duplexes and 23 detached cottages. Buildings will be no taller than 2.5 storeys and hold no more than four units each. All the homes will be rentals, and six will be reserved for households earning at or below 80 per cent of the area median income. There will be no vehicle access to Belle Vista Drive.

Tucker Oasis is the first development under the city’s Voluntary Incentives Program, which allows flexible zoning for qualifying projects. The Planning Commission recommended approval, and the City Council was due to review it. Construction is planned to start in May 2027, with completion targeted for July 2028.

Three features of the project stand out for Jamaican churches with spare land: the church keeps ownership through a ground lease, it works through its own development corporation, and it partners with experienced public housing bodies. The small-scale cottage design also fits a residential neighbourhood better than a tower would. For congregations in Jamaica, similar partnerships with housing agencies could turn idle church land into homes while keeping the title in church hands.

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