Oakland approves conversion of 1887 Brooklyn Presbyterian Church into 32-unit affordable housing project.
Adaptive reuse preserves historic architecture and adds modern amenities as cities repurpose aging buildings for housing and economic renewal.
The project reflects California’s housing expansion and preservation goals.
The City of Oakland, CA, has approved plans to convert the historic Brooklyn Presbyterian Church and Parish Hall at 1433 12th Avenue into an affordable housing development. The approval, announced by SF Yimby on October 1, 2025, marks an advance in the project to increase the city’s housing supply.
Owned by Brooklyn Arms Apartments with Strive Wealth Builders as project sponsor, the initiative preserves part of the 1887-built church while adding new residential space to address California housing needs.
According to SF Yimby, the development will feature a new four-story residential building with 30 units adjacent to the existing church structure. Interior remodeling will create two additional residential apartments within the church, facility offices, and support spaces.
A sky bridge on the second level will connect the historic and new buildings, enhance accessibility, and preserve architectural features, including a 107-foot spire. A start date for construction to begin was not announced.
A 1910 image of the historic Brooklyn Presbyterian Church and Parish Hall, located at 1433 12th Avenue, in Oakland, CA. Brooklyn Arms Apartments with Strive Wealth Builders will convert the 1887-built church into an affordable housing development. Image: Public Library of Oakland
Converting buildings into residential use, ArchDaily wrote, “reveals a wide field for intervention and exploration, one that can preserve, restore, adapt, and/or renew the character of spaces originally conceived for other uses and scales...”
In New York, for example, the former Pfizer headquarters at 219–235 East 42nd Street is undergoing what developers call the largest office-to-residential conversion in city history when completed in 2027. Just a block from Grand Central Terminal in Midtown East, the two interconnected buildings are set to deliver more than 1,600 apartments, including over 400 units with affordable pricing.
Plans for the NYC conversion also include more than 100,000 square feet of amenities with a rooftop pool, fitness center, ground-floor retail, and office space.
A rendering of housing units and amenities of the converted Brooklyn Presbyterian Church and Parish Hall, located at 1433 12th Avenue, in Oakland, CA. Image: AS Architecture
According to CBRE Research, among the 58 U.S. office markets it tracks, 23.3 million square feet of office space is expected to be removed from inventory this year. Around 12.8 million square feet is anticipated to be removed through conversions to non-office space and 10.5 million square feet through demolitions.
That total far exceeds the 12.7 million square feet of new office supply projected for 2025, according to a CBRE second-quarter 2025 report. Both demolition and conversion activity have accelerated since the COVID pandemic, reflecting ongoing changes in the office market.
As the built environment evolves in scale and purpose, contractors and building product manufacturers may face challenges pinpointing where construction demand is moving and how project activity differs by region and type.
ConstructConnect Chief Economist Michael Guckes said in the September Construction Economy Snapshot that “nonresidential construction starts are painting a divided map across the United States this year, with growth and contraction occurring side by side depending on geography and project mix.”
Map of Total Nonresidential Construction Starts through August 2025 by Census Divisions, from The Construction Economy Snapshot, September 2025. Image: ConstructConnect
Guckes added, “Along the West Coast, year-to-date spending growth is barely holding at 1.2%, well below inflation, while the Mountain Division continues to expand more than 80% thanks to a handful of megaprojects.”
For many in the construction industry, from contractors to product manufacturers and estimators, signs of growth often emerge in early stages of nonresidential projects. Tracking activity by region and project type, whether new builds, conversions, or major renovations, can reveal where momentum is beginning to take hold.
According to ConstructConnect’s Matt Richardson, finding that information is a matter of having the right resources. Richardson said, “We track both public and private projects, including new construction, additions, and alterations.”
Richardson, a two-decade construction data vet and Sr. Director of Business Development with the Building Product Manufacturer team, added, “We love to report on these types of projects and work very hard through our connections with owners, architects, engineers, and contractors to obtain just this type of project.”
A team of ConstructConnect’s research specialists updates projects, ensuring an accurate view of emerging opportunities and evolving industry connections.
Gunkel Architecture is handling the final architectural design for the conversion of the Brooklyn Presbyterian Church. The design maintains the church’s exterior with minimal changes while incorporating modern elements such as weathered steel, fiber cement veneer, and wood siding on the new structure.
The project sits on 0.48 acres in Oakland’s Clinton neighborhood, near the TEMPO bus rapid transit line and Lake Merritt BART Station.
Developers also said residents will benefit from proximity to local shops, restaurants, and parks. Transforming the Brooklyn Presbyterian Church honors the building’s historical significance while providing much-needed housing options at 30% of the Area Median Income.
The Brooklyn Arms Apartments project reflects efforts in cities like Oakland to balance historic preservation with innovative residential development, especially in neighborhoods historically underserved in housing investment.
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