The leader of a congregation north of Orlando is hoping to break ground by early next year on a multimillion-dollar project that would see hundreds of affordable housing units rise on church land.
Alandus Sims, pastor of Fellowship Baptist Church of Pine Hills for about three years, leads the congregation of 500 that his father, Arthur D. Sims Sr., founded in 1990. In 1992, his father helped the church buy the 15 acres of land it sits on at 6225 Clarcona Ocoee Road for about $548,000. He passed away in 2024.
“He had a vision that the land would be used to empower the community,” Sims said Tuesday about his father. ” This project is about transforming legacy into impact, because the impact is taking place now with the vision he had then.”
Sims has worked at the Orlando Utilities Commission for more than two decades. As OUC’s strategic partners and community projects manager, he develops programs and partnerships that encourage broad-based economic prosperity and community support in the most disadvantaged zip codes within the service territory.
He said his effort to put together a plan for church land began in earnest about five years ago. About two years on, he met Maurice Campbell, a founderof the Orlando-based real estate brokerage MT Partners. Their work together over three years led to last week’s submission to Orange County of a concept plan for a mixed-use development with 300 residential units on church land. The next step will be a meeting with the county’s Technical Review Group set for Wednesday morning.
The development is proposed under a program county commissioners approved in March — Affordable Housing for Religious Institutional Lands (AHRIL). Made possible by new state laws, AHRIL allows religious institutions to put affordable housing on their property using a streamlined approval process. Projects on qualifying religious-institution property can go forward without rezoning or comprehensive plan amendments.
Campbell said the project is expected to cost between $75 million and $80 million and is targeting early 2027 to break ground, with construction expected to take about 18 months. The church’s investments in the project will come from sources including low-income housing tax credits, a loan from a community bank and other capital contributions.
“We’re actually going to partner with a major affordable housing developer in the state of Florida,” he said while declining to identify the organization at this time. “They’re very philanthropic in nature, and they believe in what the church is doing.”
Sims said finding the right partner for this project has taken years, but was especially important because the church must remain a major stakeholder and decision-maker in the development long after construction is finished. He said he promised his father to be a good steward of his vision.
“It makes me emotional that we’re about to see that come to fruition,” he said. “The church having some ownership, and some say, protects the well being of the church and the longevity of the church in that space.”
Campbell described the concept plan as a “rough draft” because elements of it would likely get moved around as it moves through the development process. Plus it has to fit on the county’s limit of 10 acres of land for residential development within a larger religious-institution property.
The plan shows four three-story residential buildings: two with 80 units each (studios and one or two bedrooms) and two with 60 units apiece (one or two bedrooms). A fifth, a two-story residential building, would have 20 townhomes.
The plan also shows 15,000 square feet of retail/community space and a 2.1-acre open space labeled as a central green spine that features pedestrian paths, bioswales and seating. There would 263 surface parking spaces across the property.
Senate Bill 1730 passed in 2025 and gave local governments the option to approve such projects on land owned by religious institutions. As of July 1, House Bill 1389 passed in March mandates local governments to approve multifamily and mixed-use affordable housing on qualifying religious land — using the Live Local Act’s land-use provisions.
State law requires at least 10% of units in the project to be considered affordable. The Orange program goes further and requires 100% of units meet the county’s affordability standards.
The church plan states that all units will have 100% affordability for at least 30 years under the LURA (land use restrictive agreement) for those making 30-80% of the area median (family) income annually. The AMI for the metro Orlando area in 2025 (the latest year available) for one person in that range is $22,150 to $59,050, and for a household of four is $31,600 and $84,300.
According to county property records, the church land consists of a 6-acre parcel on the north side of Clarcona Ocoee Road, where the 12,000-square-foot church was built in 1999. The back parcel of 7 acres has two buildings — which records identify as a 1,900-square-foot modular office built in 1990 and a 4,600-square-foot mixed-use structure built in 1959.
Brian Bell can be reached at bbell@orlandosentinel.com. Have a tip about Central Florida development? Email Newsroom@GrowthSpotter.com. Follow GrowthSpotter on Facebook and LinkedIn.
