The Church at Clarendon – Washington, DC
From the Washingtonian, “Why Developers Are Eyeballing DC’s Churches As Their Next Project – Washingtonian,” May 4, 2017…
Just as the look of neighborhoods has changed, so might the look of houses of worship. The church of the future could resemble Arlington’s Church at Clarendon. In 2012, this Baptist congregation celebrated the opening of its new sanctuary, a few steps from the tapas bars and barre studios of Wilson Boulevard. Unlike the old building—a rather ordinary brick Colonial sanctuary—the church’s preserved steeple is dwarfed by eight stories of luxury and affordable apartments. The $5.6 million the church made from selling air rights to developer Bozzuto helped pay for the new space, preserving the steeple, and renovating a 50-year-old education building.
The Church at Clarendon isn’t alone in turning to developers to construct a new sanctuary in return for the chance to put something else next to it. Third Church of Christ, Scientist, fought for years for the right to scrap its Brutalist bunker at 16th and I streets so it could downsize to a smaller space inside a new office building. A few blocks away at Tenth and G, First Congregational United Church of Christ did the same. First Baptist Church of Silver Spring recently demolished its 87-year-old building to make room for luxury apartments. The developer is building a new, larger church for the congregation next door.