TL;DR: Faith organizations in Benton and Washington counties own more than 7 square miles of land, and nearly half of it sits vacant, according to the Urban Land Institute of Northwest Arkansas (ULI NWA), as reported by KNWA/FOX24 in August 2026. Two Rogers congregations, Christ & Neighbor Church and First Christian Church, are working through ULI's new Faithful Foundations program to evaluate turning underused parcels into affordable and attainable housing.
How much church-owned land in Northwest Arkansas is sitting vacant?
Faith organizations across Benton and Washington counties hold more than 7 square miles of land combined, and ULI NWA estimates nearly half of that acreage is vacant. That is a meaningful land bank in a region where, as the August 2026 KNWA/FOX24 report notes, land is expensive even as many congregations already own unused parcels in the neighborhoods they serve. The same dynamic applies to any institutional landowner, a congregation, a school, or a family estate: parcels acquired decades ago for one purpose can carry present-day value the original owner never planned around. ULI NWA treats faith-owned land as one slice of that inventory, but the lesson extends to any organization sitting on underused real estate inside a high-growth corridor. The question is rarely whether the land has value; it is whether the owner has the expertise, funding path, and risk tolerance to unlock it, the gap Faithful Foundations was built to address.
What is the Faithful Foundations program, and how does it help churches plan?
Faithful Foundations is run by the Urban Land Institute of Northwest Arkansas and funded by a grant from the Walton Family Foundation, and it connects faith organizations that own underutilized land with industry professionals in design, development, and project management. Candi Adams, ULI NWA's director of signature programs, described the goal as using underutilized land, where feasible and mission-aligned, to develop affordable housing with better impact in local communities. Seven churches have worked with the program so far through a free workshop series, and a small group of participating organizations is invited to apply for hands-on help drafting an actual site plan. The first of three workshops is scheduled for Monday, August 31, 2026, in Springdale; sessions are free but require registration through ULI NWA's website, and they are open to industry professionals who want to get involved. The structure separates general education, which is free and low-risk, from real site planning, which is reserved for organizations that have shown genuine readiness.
What are the two Rogers churches planning for affordable housing?
The two congregations illustrate two different paths: Christ & Neighbor Church is exploring housing for women in need, while First Christian Church of Rogers is weighing attainable homeownership for working-class families. Pastor Scott Page said Christ & Neighbor originally envisioned a 30-unit development where elderly women could mentor single moms or single women, but the roughly $8 million projected cost has not been financially feasible, so the church is considering scaling down and building in phases, starting with fewer units. Dividing the source's figures shows why: roughly $8 million across 30 units works out to about $267,000 per unit before financing or operating assumptions are layered in. Across town, Pastor Shawn Wallace said the need became personal when he realized members of his own congregation, including teachers, police officers, and firefighters, could not afford to live in the community they serve; his church is looking at homeownership either on church property or elsewhere in Rogers. Both pastors say plans remain in early stages, and neither church has settled on a final site. These are concepts, not entitled projects, and each timeline still runs through site selection, feasibility work, and partner identification before ground is broken.
Why does underused church land matter for Rogers, Bentonville, and the wider NWA corridor?
Northwest Arkansas has built its growth story on employers, Walmart's headquarters in Bentonville, Tyson Foods in Springdale, and J.B. Hunt in Lowell, that draw workers faster than housing has kept pace along the I-49 corridor. Wallace's observation that teachers, police officers, and firefighters cannot afford homes near their workplaces is a workforce-housing problem playing out in Rogers specifically. Faith-owned parcels are attractive because the organization already holds the ground, sidestepping the land-acquisition cost that sinks many attainable-housing projects; what remains is entitlement, design, and capital. For developers and investors evaluating Rogers, church-led projects, even small and phased ones, would add attainable inventory where Wallace says his own congregation is priced out, and they signal where partnership structures may originate: not traditional land assembly, but mission-driven owners seeking capital and development partners. The congregations themselves say partnership is the hinge: Wallace noted that a project of this kind is bigger than what churches can fund on their own, and that its success hinges on partners doing it together.
What should a church or nonprofit landowner weigh before committing to a housing project?
Both Rogers pastors were candid that ULI NWA can help with planning, but funding, through donations, partnerships, or outside investment, remains each congregation's responsibility. A landowner should get an honest, third-party read on true cost per unit, realistic financing structures, and the entitlement and construction timeline in its specific municipality before committing publicly to a unit count or budget. Christ & Neighbor's experience, a vision priced at roughly $8 million before feasibility caught up, is the cautionary example. In Rogers, as in any Northwest Arkansas market, that also means verifying a prospective agent's or brokerage's actual transaction record and local land-use experience rather than marketing claims; Mason Capital Group's record includes more than 30 years of Northwest Arkansas real estate work and over $2.4 billion in cumulative transaction activity. The organizations most likely to succeed treat the workshop stage as genuine due diligence, not a formality on the way to a predetermined design.
For churches and nonprofits in Rogers and across Northwest Arkansas weighing what underused property could become, Mason Capital Group provides development and advisory guidance on feasibility, phasing, and partnership structure before capital or design decisions are locked in. Congregations and nonprofit boards are welcome to call 479-925-3333 or visit masoncapitalgroup.com to arrange a strategy call.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much land do Northwest Arkansas churches own that could be used for affordable housing?
Faith organizations in Benton and Washington counties own more than 7 square miles of land combined, and nearly half sits vacant, according to the Urban Land Institute of Northwest Arkansas. That inventory spreads across many congregations rather than one owner, which is why ULI NWA built a program to help organizations evaluate their parcels.
What is the Faithful Foundations program in Northwest Arkansas?
Faithful Foundations is an Urban Land Institute of Northwest Arkansas program, funded by a Walton Family Foundation grant, that connects faith organizations owning underutilized land with design, development, and project management professionals. It runs a free workshop series, then invites a smaller group to apply for hands-on help drafting a site plan for their property.
How can a nonprofit or church landowner start evaluating its own property for housing?
Start with an honest feasibility review of true per-unit cost, realistic funding sources, and local entitlement timelines before settling on a unit count, since Christ & Neighbor Church's roughly $8 million, 30-unit concept in Rogers shows how quickly plans can outpace feasibility. Faithful Foundations workshops and independent advisory review both serve that purpose.
Northwest Arkansas has grown because its institutions, from employers to congregations, keep looking for ways to serve the people already here. Mason Capital Group remains committed to supporting community-rooted growth across Rogers, Bentonville, Springdale, Fayetteville, and the surrounding towns of Northwest Arkansas.
About the author: Cameron Torabi, Principal Broker — Mason Capital Group. 30+ years of Northwest Arkansas real estate expertise; $2.4B+ in cumulative transaction activity.
Source: https://www.nwahomepage.com/northwest-arkansas-news/two-rogers-churches-consider-using-their-land-for-affordable-housing/. Mason Capital Group is not affiliated with the source publication.