THE ST. PAUL AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH of Berkeley has started construction of the St. Paul Terrace — a 50-unit affordable housing project on the church grounds.
The seven-story project, located on Ashby Avenue, is being developed by St. Paul AME Church in partnership with Community Housing Development Corporation (CHDC), a nonprofit affordable housing developer based in Richmond. The project’s budget is about $69 million.
The project will provide housing for low-income people and families earning “no more than 60% of Berkeley’s area median income, which stands at just over $100,000 for an individual,” according to a recent article in Berkeleyside.
With the development’s completion projected for spring 2028, St. Paul AME Church and CHDC have not yet released application information for the new housing units, which range from studios to three-bedroom apartments, with 13 units reserved for seniors who are currently experiencing or at risk of houselessness.
“The shelter that the church gave us, socially, mentally, spiritually, intellectually, economically, is now becoming physical,” said District 3 Councilmember Ben Bartlett. St. Paul AME Church lies within his district.
The project, which broke ground on July 30, is funded in part through Measure O, Berkeley’s affordable housing bond. Berkeley voters approved the funding source in November 2018. It provides $135 million in bond funding for affordable housing for low and middle-income households. St. Paul Terrace is receiving $12 million from the measure.
Adding hundreds of housing units
St. Paul Terrace is one of the three Measure O-funded projects currently in progress in Berkeley, along with two housing projects in West Berkeley. In total, 214 housing units are expected to be available by the time these projects are completed.
The St. Paul Terrace project occurs alongside the city of Berkeley’s Adeline Corridor Specific Plan, which was adopted in December 2020. The plan covers the area along Adeline Street from Ashby Avenue south to the Berkeley-Oakland border.
The Adeline Corridor Specific Plan focuses on five main goals: land use and community character, housing affordability, economic opportunity, transportation, and public space. St. Paul Terrace will contribute to the plan’s goal of housing affordability by adding 50 affordable housing units to the neighborhood as the city continues working to increase the number of homes in the area.
St. Paul AME Church is one of the several Berkeley Black churches that have explored using their land for affordable housing.
This story originally appeared in The Daily Californian. It was reported as part of the newspaper’s summer journalism intensive training program for high school students, The Berkeley Angle. Nguyen’s participation was made possible by Contra Costa Youth Journalism. Huffaker is an 11th grader at L.C. Anderson High School in Austin, Texas.
This story was also republished in CCSpin.