In a move that intertwines spirituality and social need, Scottsdale United Methodist Church (SUMC) on Miller Road near Indian School Road has stepped into the housing discourse by filing plans for an affordable housing complex. The complex, slated to offer 82 units across two three-story buildings, is set to rise from the earth where there was once just a parking lot. The decision, as per the documents submitted to the city, comes in the wake of the church's dwindling flock and represents an effort to broaden its mission through tackling the shortage of workforce housing in downtown Scottsdale, as reported by ABC15.
While the church will continue its sacred services and day care operations, the partnership with Gorman & Co. to develop, build, and manage the apartments adds a layer of pragmatic compassion to its divine efforts. Despite reaching out, neither the pastor nor the developer returned requests for comment. However, it's not just the church walls listening; the people have thoughts. On NextDoor, reactions run the gamut from endorsements citing no negatives and applause at the prospect of helping price-pressed seniors, to outrage and concerns over a perceived unnecessary addition of apartments in Old Town. One resident, capturing a shared confusion, simply asked, "What are 'workforce apartments?'"—a sentiment reflected in a community reveal gathered by Your Valley.
Scottsdale Councilman Barry Graham, meanwhile, has expressed trepidation about the fusion of faith spaces with residential development, worrying over the possible community trade-offs. Yet, the city's downtown zoning eschews the need for council approval for such mixed-use involvements, a point that seems to leave Graham vexed over the lack of say residents get. "Residents should get more of a say in it, so I'm very concerned about that because ... whatever they want to do, they can do," Graham told ABC15. With parking potentially scarce, especially with the arrival of a new Whole Foods across the street, the councilman foresees logistical conundrums—a constriction of community access to spiritual gathering spots due to cars' spot occupation.
The church has intended to address parking issues, proffering a plan for 166 spaces—more than the city's mandate—as part of the development, which also includes proposals for a playground and landscaped courtyards. This forward-thinking falls in line with the attempts at legislation earlier in the year, which ultimately did not pass, to allow Arizona churchesto lease parts of their land for single-family homes and apartments. Unswayed by such setbacks, opponents like Graham vow to oppose similar bills, framing the affordable housing aspiration as an opportunity for "for-profit apartment builders to squeeze in as much housing as possible, to pressure these houses of worship to cash in," he argued to ABC15. In the interplay of sanctity and shelter, the community waits, uncertain, to see what foundations will be laid both in faith and in brick.
