Nonprofit looks to expand bridge housing project from Glendale to Tempe

The Valley affiliate of a nonprofit is planning a follow-up to an innovative development project in Glendale that will convert shipping containers into bridge housing for previously unhoused people.

Why it matters: Arizona is suffering from a housing shortage that has driven up prices and exacerbated the state's homelessness problem.

Catch up quick: Family Promise of Greater Phoenix announced plans in 2022 for a six-unit complex called Legacy Village that converts 640-square-foot shipping containers into housing. 

• Each container will be a two-bedroom "communal housing" unit for two families. 
• The nonprofit partnered with Disciples of Christ Church in Glendale near 59th Avenue and Bethany Home Road to use some of the congregation's vacant land. 

The intrigue: Family Promise chose the location because it was in the ZIP code with the highest eviction rate in the state, CEO Ted Taylor told Axios. 

The big picture: Using the Glendale village as a prototype, Family Promise hopes to expand to other locations in the Valley, and Taylor said the nonprofit is already working on plans for a second complex in Tempe. 

• "Shared housing is a pathway to market-rate housing," he said.
• Taylor said they're not ready to identify the congregation or site yet.

How it works: The communal or "cohabitation" housing costs $100 per week, utilities included, with a maximum stay of 90 days. 

• Affordable "bridge housing" will cost $950 per month. 
• Family Promise plans for the Tempe site to be financially self-sustaining, with a mix of cohabitation, bridge and permanent housing. 
• The group has provided similar brick-and-mortar housing options since 2012.

What they're saying: Family Promise has long partnered with the faith community to shelter people, and Taylor said 70% of those they house return to sustainable housing within 60 days of arrival. 

• "We know that many of those congregations have excess land, and we figured out that if we could partner with them on long-term leases and develop an affordable housing project on that land, it would be missional for them as well as us," he said. 

• City of Tempe spokesperson Kris Baxter declined to comment on Family Promise's plans because nothing has been submitted to the city, but told Axios that Tempe is "always looking for ways to address the affordable housing problem." 

What's next: Family Promise expects Legacy Village, which Taylor said is about 85% finished, to be completed between Thanksgiving and New Year's.

• Taylor said there's no timetable for the Tempe proposal, but explained that projects normally take 18-24 months for development. 
• 10 congregations contacted  Family Promise about using their land for housing after announcing the Glendale project two years ago, though no other sites have been identified. 
• Family Promise is also looking to buy mobile home parks in the Valley to keep them affordable and has a federal grant to do so in Mesa.