VACANT AND/OR UNDERUTILIZED RELIGIOUS PROPERTIES IN MARYLAND: ENVISIONING HEALTHY PLANNING TRANSITIONS
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Exantus, Jordan
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Abstract
This report presents the work of the Fall 2025 University of Maryland URSP 708 Community Planning Studio, examining the challenges and opportunities associated with vacant and underutilized religious properties in Maryland. Declining religious participation, aging facilities, and increasing financial pressures have placed significant strains on religious institutions, while creating opportunities for adaptive reuse and community-serving redevelopment. Through contextual research, literature review, site and market analyses, planning and design evaluations, and community engagement, the Studio examined three religious properties in Prince George’s County: Carolina Missionary Baptist Church in Fort Washington, Church of the Living God in Adelphi, and St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church in New Carrollton. Working with church partners and community stakeholders, students evaluated existing development proposals and developed alternative strategies that respond to each institution’s mission, site conditions, financial capacity, and surrounding community needs. Recommendations include integrating supportive and affordable housing with workforce development, creating wellness-oriented and intergenerational communities, improving pedestrian accessibility, and combining affordable housing, worship facilities, resilience infrastructure, and complementary commercial uses within mixed-use developments. Across the three case studies, the findings emphasize the importance of balancing mission-driven development with financial feasibility, regulatory constraints, environmental considerations, and meaningful community engagement. The report highlights the role of religious institutions as community anchors and potential mission-driven developers, demonstrating how context-sensitive planning, strategic partnerships, and integrated land uses can support sustainable transitions that benefit both congregations and their surrounding communities.
Notes
Final report prepared by students enrolled in URSP 708: Community Planning Studio during the Fall 2025 semester at the University of Maryland, College Park, as part of the Master of Community Planning program in the School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. The Studio was instructed by Dr. Clara Irazábal and Professor Jordan Exantus and conducted in collaboration with three religious institutions in Prince George’s County, Maryland: Carolina Missionary Baptist Church, Church of the Living God, and St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church, with Enterprise Partners also acknowledged as a community interlocutor. The report includes contextual research, literature review, planning and design precedents, site-specific analyses, evaluations of existing development proposals, alternative planning and design concepts, financial considerations, and recommendations informed by community engagement. Supplementary appendix materials are accessible through the link and QR code provided in the report.