Naama Blonder has put issues such as improved housing costs and increased housing diversity as top priorities at Smart Density, the Toronto-based architecture and urban planning firm she co-founded almost eight years ago.

Blonder, an architect and urban designer/planner, says Smart Density along with two partners has been recently awarded a CMHC grant titled Breaking Zoning Barriers: A New Solutions Lab to Unlock Housing on Faith-Based Lands.

The aim is to look into zoning reforms that would allow faith-based properties to develop housing on underutilized property.

Faith-based organizations own significant land and often have social mandates that include the development of affordable housing, but they face a complex approvals process to remove zoning barriers prescribed only for institutional development, she says.

“This land is such a low-hanging fruit (for affordable housing), but if you think about churches they don’t have a clue about what development is.”

In collaboration with the Kehilla Residential Programme, an affordable housing organization, and BGM Consulting, Smart Density is focusing on practical solutions to help these churches and other faith-based organizations overcome these barriers.