Churches Can Offer More Than Spiritual Guidance

As has been conveyed many times in this space, densification is the way of the future for city growth across the country and even around the world. The reasoning is simple — cities can’t grow their tax bases without spreading out and since we don’t want to invade green space and other productive zones, the only way they can grow is upwards.

Toronto has known and followed this philosophy for some time and other cities are starting to realize it. The communities surrounding Toronto are being helped along by new developments such as Hwy. 407 — a long-awaited relief artery to the much-travelled 401 that has the distinction of being the busiest freeway on the continent.

And although spots to the east such as Whitby and Oshawa have land available on which to build sprawling housing developments, already dense cities such as Toronto do not. And if Oshawa wishes to maintain some of the ties to its pastoral past, it should also start looking at vertical growth.

One city that has been forced to do this for some time is Hong Kong. Hong Kong is the fourth-densest area on the planet, with more than seven million people inhabiting 1,000 square km (about 6,500 people per sq. km). Another recently acquired Chinese territory, Macau, is the densest at more than  21,000 people per sq. km of its 2,900 hectares (29 sq.km). Toronto’s density is about 4,100 per sq. km.

Hong Kong has virtually no room for growth other than upwards (situated as it is at the southern tip of China, right against the sea), but it already has one of the most expansive skylines in the world. As such, development (even upward) is at a premium.

Recently, Toronto has experienced upward growth on property owned by churches. That may seem to some as sacrilege, but it does give you pause to think about the possibilities when you look around the prime real-estate on which our city’s churches are located and the skyward development around them.

Abbey Lofts - via monikamacmillan.com

The churches in Hong Kong have decided to expand their reach upward by initiating new development, either of their own accord or in partnership with professional developers, in order to take advantage of soaring real-estate prices.

As reported on the China Central Television (CCTV) website, Hong Kong’s Methodist International Church is building a 22-storey tower in the heart of Hong Kong, with 12 storeys allotted to residential space. And another, the Union Church, is adding 20 storeys over its current two-storey building, to expand its worship space and add 17 floors of apartments.

Many of us are still tied to memories of churches located on open, idyllic country lots, and surrounded by community cemeteries, which in most cases is no longer the case. Cemeteries long ago asserted their independence due to the money making potential. And when you think about it, crematoriums jumped on the densification bandwagon as available land became scarcer. But that’s another story for another time.

The reality is that churches in downtown cores have a rough go at attracting parishioners due to other city challenges, such as parking. And in order for churches to grow within their communities, they need to attract people to keep the money flowing in. In a way, they’re a lot like cities.

And it should be noted that the churches in Hong Kong don’t just want to cash in on real-estate prices; they plan to put the income toward their outreach programs and to aid in repairing, refurbishing and/or replacing aging structures in accordance with their beliefs.

A popular and eye-catching church conversion in Toronto is The Abbey Lofts at 384 Sunnyside Avenue. There were no storeys added to the church to create more housing. Building on top of churches might be the next big thing in Toronto, just like building atop heritage buildings, such as Cityzen, Fernbrook, and Diamondcorp’s latest condo development, The Selby at Sherbourne and Selby, which will rise from a restored heritage building with help from ERA Architects.