14-05-2025
Many Kent Co. churches own unused land: Project aims to use it for housing
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A new project aims to tap into a unique resource to add more housing in Kent County: unused land owned by local churches.
ICCF Community Homes on Wednesday launched its , a project that aims to raise $12 million to build much-needed affordable housing in Kent County.
The project has already received $10 million in commitments, including an anonymous donation that promises to match up to $6 million in funds.
The goal is to use those funds to help build 200 homes throughout the Kent County over the next two to five years.
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'We know our community is in dire need of affordable housing,' ICCF Community Homes CEO Ryan VerWys told News 8. 'As we were thinking about how can we be part of the solution to that need for housing, we recognized that we have great partnerships with churches in our community.'
He noted that there's about 700 churches throughout the county, and several of those have extra real estate. One such church is Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church on MLK Jr Street near Union Avenue, which owns several unused lots near its building, senior pastor Darryl Gaddy said.
Gaddy moved to Grand Rapids about two and a half years ago to help revitalize the 97-year-old church. Part of that was finding a way to develop that extra property it owns, he said.
Through the Building With Faith campaign, ICCF is helping the church work through the pre-development stages. Once complete, the project is expected to build six to 10 housing units for those who are housing insecure, Gaddy said.
'In the church community, every day we having folks coming to us and they are housing insecure, they don't have a place to live,' Gaddy said. 'This is so exciting, because it provides those who are without an opportunity to come into a space where they can be at home.'
'It's just exciting to know … that God would use me to help catalyze a movement with a church that's been in this city and in this community for 97 years,' he later added. 'I'm just a small part of the building blocks of continuing to build a legacy for home ownership and for those in the community who need a safe place to stay, but also that need to be empowered through the spiritual and then the social tools. And so we are excited to work with ICCF in this mission.'
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Half of the 200 housing units ICCF aims to help create through the project will be rental units built on under-utilized church property, whether that's through building new units or redeveloping existing buildings.
The other half with be built for first-time homebuyers, built on land that will include properties donated or acquired from churches. The homes will be built on a land trust, meaning the homebuyers will buy the house, but not the land it sits on. That model both helps keep costs down for homebuyers, and can also control the sale price in the future.
'We are so encouraged by the generosity that we've experienced thus far,' VerWys said. 'We're passionate about addressing that critical need for housing in our community.'
Like most of the country, Kent County is in dire need for more housing. A Housing Next housing assessment from 2022 found that the county needed to add 35,000 housing units by 2027.
Costs are also skyrocketing to both own or rent a home. According to a data dashboard from Housing Kent, those earning a median wage in Kent County have not been able to afford buying an entry-level home since 2017: An average entry-level home in Kent County requires an income of $62,000, while the area's median annual wage is $42,740. The cost of rent is also rising faster than wages, and a typical apartment costs $1,196 a month, affordable to those making an income of $47,840.
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'We know the housing market is hot right now. … If you're renting, you're seeing your rents rise rapidly, your housing is something of insecurity. And we really dream of a time where housing is something that every family can experience a place of security,' VerWys said. 'We're thrilled that the community is coming together around this campaign to add a bunch of much needed affordable housing.'
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