One of downtown Phoenix’s most recognizable church campuses is getting an unusual neighbor: a three-story, six-bedroom home tied to the Mexico-based La Luz del Mundo megachurch. The residence is rising beside the congregation’s giant domed temple as the church’s imprisoned leader faces a separate federal sex-trafficking case.
A photo report from The Arizona Republic shows the house next to La Luz del Mundo’s Phoenix campus near downtown. The report identifies the building as a six-bedroom, three-story residence, but does not publicly spell out who will live there or how much the project is expected to cost.
A Six-Bedroom House Next To Phoenix’s Silver Dome
The church’s silver dome has been a freeway-side landmark for years, visible to drivers passing along Interstate 10 west of downtown. Local public radio station KJZZ previously described the structure as an anchor for the Phoenix branch of the Mexico-based church.
La Luz del Mundo’s own Phoenix website lists the downtown congregation at 1206 N. Laurel Ave. and shows the organization maintains several other Arizona locations. The new residence appears to expand the physical footprint of a campus that already includes a large worship space and a highly visible architectural signature.
A six-bedroom home next to a church is not automatically a scandal, of course, but the scale and placement make the project more than a routine residential addition. The available report does not indicate whether the property is intended for clergy housing, visiting church officials, group accommodations or another use.
The Project Comes Under A Heavy Legal Shadow
The timing is drawing attention because La Luz del Mundo leader Naasón Joaquín García is named in a federal indictment in New York. The U.S. Department of Justice indictment accuses García and five others of using the church’s structure to commit racketeering, sex trafficking and other crimes, allegations that remain to be tested in court.
According to Reuters, García is serving a 16-year, eight-month California prison sentence after pleading guilty in 2022 to state charges involving the sexual abuse of three girls. His attorney denied the federal allegations, and Reuters reported that the church did not respond to a request for comment.
The legal history has already followed the church into Arizona. Hoodline previously reported on separate federal child sexual abuse material charges against García in California.
What Remains Unclear About The Phoenix Residence
The new images establish the home’s size and location beside the domed campus, but leave several practical questions unanswered. There is no publicly detailed timeline in the available report for completion, no stated construction cost and no explanation of how the house will be used.
For Phoenix, the development is both a small piece of neighborhood construction news and another chapter in the public story of a religious organization with an international following. The residence may be ordinary in function, but its setting ensures that this particular house will attract more scrutiny than most new homes near downtown.
