Thousands of churches across the U.S. have closed in recent years. While there is no official nationwide count, it is estimated that between 4,000–7,000 churches and religious buildings have closed annually over the past 10 years. These buildings, once monuments and cornerstones of their neighborhoods and communities, leave behind a strong sense of place with soaring roofs, vaulted ceilings, wood trusses, stained glass, and solid stone walls. These structures are increasingly being reimagined as homes, apartments, condos, daycares, event venues, and workspaces, maintaining their connection to the community while producing stunning results. But what does it actually take to get there? The Toner Architects team has done it! Here’s what we’ve learned.
In many cases, the congregations have vacated these churches many years before they reach the market, leaving them to endure multiple winters without heat or repairs. The vastness of the sanctuary, combined with remnants of religious artifacts and historic construction methods, creates a canvas for innovative, visionary design.
Vaulted ceilings and oversized windows are usually what draw developers in first but a successful church-to-residential conversion requires equal attention to roof structure, building systems, and the code implications of a change of use. This guide covers all of it.
Why Are So Many Churches Being Converted?
Church attendance has declined for decades. With fewer congregants, clergy, and financial resources, maintaining large, aging buildings or campuses becomes infeasible. Congregations often merge, dissolve, or relocate closer to their current members. As a result, buildings are put on the market to relieve financial burdens. Meanwhile, demand for housing and other uses in urban and suburban areas remains high, and developers, architects, and business owners recognize these buildings as rare opportunities that simply cannot be replicated in new construction.
What Makes a Church Such a Compelling Conversion Candidate?
Churches hold a distinct place in their communities, often occupying the same corner or block for over 100 years and serving generations of families who remain in the area today. They carry deep sentimental value for many residents.
There is also truth to the saying, “They don’t make things like they used to.” Historic churches often contain features that are difficult or cost-prohibitive to replicate today: massive volumes of space, dramatic natural light, thick masonry construction, prominent locations, irreplaceable craftsmanship, and the patina of aged materials. These are buildings with soul and history.
Toner Architects’ philosophy is to celebrate the history, materials, and craftsmanship of older buildings while thoughtfully adapting them to modern uses.
The Big Challenges of Converting a Church
1. Zoning: It’s More Complicated Than You Think
In Philadelphia, churches and religious buildings typically carry the zoning designation of the surrounding neighborhood. Many start as RSA-5 zoning, which permits only single-family housing, an impractical designation for buildings that can range from 10,000 to 50,000 square feet.
In surrounding communities, these properties are often zoned for institutional or religious use, requiring a zoning change for residential or commercial conversion.
In Philadelphia, there are two primary zoning paths. The first involves historic designation. If a building is listed on the Philadelphia Historic Register, it may qualify for uses normally reserved for commercial zoning (CMX-3) through a relatively straightforward administrative process. This opens up the opportunity for a wide range of “by-right” uses (i.e. uses allowed without a zoning variance), including multi-family residential and visitor accommodations (hotel), and may eliminate parking requirements. If the building is not listed, owners may consider pursuing designation.
The second path is the standard zoning variance process. This involves preparing existing conditions drawings, developing a conceptual design, and submitting a zoning application. If the proposed use is not “by-right”, a refusal is issued, initiating the Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA) process. This typically takes 8+ months and includes a zoning attorney, community engagement, Registered Community Organization (RCO) meetings, and ZBA hearings. Outcomes are not guaranteed, and the process is generally more time-intensive and costly.
In surrounding municipalities, the process is often more straightforward but varies by jurisdiction. Toner Architects evaluates requirements early, coordinates with zoning officers, and advises clients on timelines, approvals, and next steps.
Toner Architects has guided over 1,000 clients through zoning and entitlement processes, including neighborhood engagement and board presentations – a level of experience that translates directly into fewer surprises and faster approvals for our clients.
2. The Floor Plan Problem
Churches weren’t designed for any other use, and they definitely were not designed for residential living. Large open worship spaces, few interior walls, unusual ceiling heights, and features such as trusses, sloped floors, and deep floor plates, and structural settling and deficiencies all create floor plan challenges. How do you create private bedrooms, bathrooms, and kitchens in a space designed for 300 people facing forward?
Solutions include adding floor plates or mezzanines, introducing dormers or skylights, and strategically dividing space while meeting modern code requirements. Window locations often determine how many viable units can be created.
Toner Architects specializes in finding creative, code-compliant floor plan solutions that maximize the use without sacrificing the existing space that makes these buildings worth converting. We are an expert in helping you realize your vision!
3. Systems: Starting From Scratch
Existing mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems in churches are always inadequate or nonexistent for residential use. New and upgraded water, sewer, electrical, and gas systems, including street connections, are often required. Fire protection systems, water service rooms, and electrical transformers must also be integrated.
HVAC design is often the most complex challenge, particularly in historic buildings. Locating condensers discreetly,out of public view while maintaining proper airflow,requires creative solutions. Past projects have incorporated VRF systems with equipment concealed in towers, on roofs, or in rear yards where feasible.
4. Preserving What Matters (Without Over-Constraining the Design)
If the building has historic designation,or even if it doesn’t,decisions about what to keep and what to change carry weight. Stained glass, ornamental woodwork, organ lofts: every decision is both a design choice and a community statement.
Toner Architects works through the building space by space with each client, making recommendations on what to retain and how to incorporate it into the new design. For example, stained glass is often relocated to corridors, protected and backlit as interior features, while clear glazing is introduced in primary living spaces to meet modern expectations.
5. Structural Surprises
Churches, like all historic structures, often conceal unknown conditions, deferred maintenance, outdated materials, and water infiltration through stone and masonry. A thorough existing conditions assessment before design begins is essential. As part of this assessment, our team coordinates a full building scan, interior and exterior, allowing the design team to identify structural issues such as wall movement or settlement. This information supports effective coordination with structural engineers and informs safe, buildable solutions.
What Are Your Options? Types of Church Conversions
1. Single-Family Conversion
The whole church becomes one grand home. Dramatic, personal, and often the most design-forward option. Usually suited to smaller church buildings.
2. Multi-Unit Residential
The church is subdivided into condos or apartments – the most common approach in urban areas. Requires more complex structural and systems work.
3. Mixed-Use
Ground floor commercial or community space, residential above (or in the nave). Can work well when a community wants to preserve some public use of the building.
4. Artist Live/Work or Studios
The large open volumes of a church are ideal for artists or creative tenants who need space and light.
5. Hotel Use
Similar to the multi-unit residential buildings, these buildings can be divided into smaller units and provide an incredibly unique experience for visitors.
6. Daycare or School Use
Believe it or not, in the past 5 years, we have converted multiple religious buildings to daycare use. Their central location within the communities makes religious buildings a popular choice for community-facing services.
Check out our Appletree Childcare & Learning Center adaptive reuse project.
The Design Opportunity: What Makes Church Conversions Special
Soaring Ceilings and Volume
A 40-foot ceiling in a living room is something no new construction can replicate. How do you design for it–mezzanines, suspended volumes, lofted sleeping areas? The answer is yes, yes, and yes! Each individual space leads us to numerous possibilities. We look for creative ways to make these unusual spaces special and livable.
Stained Glass as Living Art
Retained stained glass windows become the defining feature of any interior. Morning light through a rose window is unforgettable. We recommend strategically keeping certain pieces of stained glass, the rose window, and any stained glass in common areas. In the dwelling units we advise removing the stained glass and replacing it with clear glass, while retaining the existing stained glass pieces for reinstallation as interior art. They are beautiful when backlit!
Material Richness
Stone, brick, old-growth timber, ornamental ironwork – materials that simply aren’t made this way anymore. Good adaptive reuse design puts these on display rather than hiding them. We look for ways to keep historic materials while introducing modern materials to enable the new use.
The “Reveal” Moment
One of the most rewarding parts of this work is that the conversion process often “unlocks” elements that were mundane or repetitive before, to become inspiring focal points in the new use. For example, the wall of repeating windows in a large space may be easy to ignore, but placing that window into a new dwelling unit with bright white paint makes the window feel huge and the sunlight so bright! That repetitive window is now the feature!
What Does a Church Conversion Cost?
Cost is always one of the first questions, and it’s the right one to ask early. The cost truly depends on the scope, the scale, and the condition of the existing building and building services. We find that feasibility studies help scope this early within the process. Toner offers feasibility studies as the first design step. With a completed feasibility study a contractor can provide possible cost ranges for the project. This is helpful in guiding the next steps in the design process.
Do You Need a Special Architect?
Yes – and here’s why this matters. Church conversions sit at the intersection of adaptive reuse expertise, residential design, historic preservation knowledge, and urban zoning fluency. Not every firm has all four. Toner Architects does.
Our team has extensive experience working within existing and historic structures, including projects that require zoning relief, coordination with preservation agencies, and careful integration of new residential uses into complex building types. We have supported clients through feasibility studies, entitlement and zoning processes, and full architectural and interior design services, helping to move projects from early due diligence through construction. This hands-on experience allows us to anticipate challenges early and develop practical, buildable solutions grounded in real-world project delivery.
Our experience is reflected in a range of adaptive reuse projects featured on our website, including Appletree Daycare and Learning Center, The Mill at Howard, and Parachute Studios, as well as several active church and institutional conversions at various stages of development.
Current work includes the transformation of Immaculate Conception Church into apartment units, now under construction, and the adaptive reuse of St. Agnes School into residential units, nearing completion. We have also recently completed permitting for the conversion of Shiloh Baptist Church, along with two South Philadelphia church properties currently in the conceptual design phase. Together, these projects demonstrate our ongoing, hands-on involvement in navigating the technical, regulatory, and design challenges unique to converting historic religious buildings into viable residential communities.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, with the correct jurisdiction approvals, such as zoning. Just remember the building scale, and windows will dictate how many usable units/amount of usable living space you will have.
It depends on the scope of work. Existing buildings’ size, scale, and condition vary so much. Projects like these have to be considered on a case-by-case basis. Also, remember that existing buildings can provide different types of value beyond initial investment dollars, such as the quality of space and light, uniqueness, and the sustainability of saving the existing building and repurposing it.
Churches do not currently qualify for the historic tax credits available at the State and National levels when the sanctuary or other large volume spaces, such as gymnasiums, are divided up by the addition of floor levels. If these volumes are left intact, it is possible the project could comply. A historic tax credit consultant could review the design and confirm. Currently, the City of Philadelphia provides a tax abatement for these projects.
It is recommended to review the possible tax credits at the beginning of the project and at the beginning of each calendar year. The programs and amount of funding can change year to year and by location.
As with all construction projects, the schedule depends on the timeliness of decisions, the jurisdiction approvals, and the complexity of design, construction, and financing. We have seen projects range from 1 to 5 years from conception to completion.
Church conversions are among the most rewarding and demanding project types in architecture. When approached thoughtfully, they preserve layers of community history, retain meaningful architectural character, and create truly unique residential environments that would be impossible to replicate in new construction. At the same time, they require careful navigation of structural constraints, zoning and code challenges, and the expectations that come with reimagining spaces that often hold deep cultural significance.
Toner Architects brings both the sensitivity and the technical expertise required to do this work well. With a strong foundation in adaptive reuse, historic preservation, and residential design, the firm is equipped to guide these complex projects from early feasibility through construction. The result is work that not only respects the past, but also creates lasting value—giving these buildings the future they deserve.
Ready to explore a church conversion project? Contact Toner Architects to schedule a feasibility consultation.
