DENVER Colorado Gov. Jared Polis is urging lawmakers to support legislation to make it easier for churches to build housing on land they own.Its among the housing goals the governor is pursuing during this years legislative session to expand affordable housing options in Colorado.Governor Polis applauds the sponsors leadership on tackling this issue to help create more housing that Coloradans can afford, said Shelby Wieman, the governors press secretary. He looks forward to seeing a bill introduced that will empower organizations like schools and faith-based organizations who want to utilize land they own to build housing to support their workers and the broader community.During his 2025 State of the State address on Thursday, Polis highlighted a 77-unit affordable housing project that was built on church property in Colorado Springs. The governor toured the project in December 2024 and invited the churchs pastor, Pastor Ben Anderson, to his State of the State. Hear more from the governor's 2025 State of the State in the video player below Polis discusses ways to combat affordable housing crisis in 2025 State of the StateChurches in the Denver area are also building affordable housing projects on their property. Augustana Lutheran Church in Denver teamed up with Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver to build eight duplexes for working-class families.The duplexes are being built on church-owned land that used to be a parking lot.It was hard to patrol and keep safe, and people knew that it was vacant, said Senior Pastor Caitlin Trussell of Augustana Lutheran Church.Trussell said the church is leasing the land for $1 for 100 years. She described the project as a leap of faith for her congregation.The leap of faith, I think, is taking a piece of property and committing it, putting our faith where our land is, and really making sure that we're doing something meaningful for the community, said Trussell.Trussell said the idea started when a group of church members attended a brunch and learned that Denver metro churches collectively owned about 5,000 acres of land. A lot of that land is nothing but empty fields and parking lots.They just thought maybe this is a space that we could use for affordable housing, Trussell said. Laura Willetto with Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver said the underutilized land provides churches with a great opportunity.Thats where churches have an opportunity to either donate or sell that land affordably and homes can be built there, said Willetto.Willetto said Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver is also partnering with Mountain View United Church in Aurora on another affordable housing project.We are building 20 affordable for-sale homes on that land that's owned by the church. In both of those cases, the churches are leasing the land to Habitat, said Willetto.The affordable housing project behind Augustana Lutheran Church will be completed later this year."It's an opportunity to work together with our neighbors on something that actually makes a literally concrete difference, said Trussell.Its a leap of faith shes glad her church is taking.You can learn more about projects and Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denvers partnerships with faith-based organizations here.Gov. Jared Polis detailed a three-part approach to creating access to more affordable housing in Colorado during his 2025 State of the State address: Streamline the building of modular homes houses built in parts off-site and assembled at the building location to be faster and cheaper Allowing builders to build smart stair, or single-staircase, apartments and homes that are lauded for more efficient floor plans but raise concerns about fire safety Partnering with educational and faith-based centers to use their land for more housing, like Solid Rock Christian Center in Colorado Springs, which is now home to more than 70 affordable housing unitsHe also urged lawmakers to solve Colorados condo shortage and address homeowners insurance costs, which have been driven up by climate events like wildfires and hailstorms.Im calling for needed reforms to tackle the high cost of homeowners insurance and expand access so that every homeowner can get the insurance they need and learn more about ways to reduce their rates, Polis said.2025 housing bills introduced this session: House Bill 25-1004 (No Pricing Coordination Between Landlords): Concerning pricing coordination by landlords, and, in connection therewith, prohibiting landlords from using coordinators, prohibiting coordinators from facilitating agreements that reduce competition between landlords, and prohibiting two or more landlords from engaging in consciously parallel pricing coordination. House Bill 25-1019 (Third-Party Administration of Division of Housing Programs): Concerning third-party administration of programs for persons experiencing homelessness that are overseen by the Division of Housing in the Department of Local Affairs. House Bill 25-1030 (Accessibility Standards in Building Codes): Concerning the requirement that certain building codes have accessibility standards that are at least as stringent as international building codes. House Bill 25-1032 (Improving Infrastructure to Reduce Homelessness) House Bill 25-1043 (Owner Equity Protection in Homeowners' Association Foreclosure Sales): Concerning the protection of unit owners in relation to enforcement actions by unit owners' associations. Senate Bill 25-002 (Regional Building Codes for Factory-Built Structures): Concerning the development of regional building codes that account for local climatic and geographic conditions for the construction and installation of residential and nonresidential factory-built structures. Senate Bill 25-006 (Investment Authority of State Treasurer for Affordable Housing): Concerning authorization for the state treasurer to invest state money for the creation of affordable for-sale housing in the state. Senate Bill 25-013 (Senior Income Housing Tax Credit Extension): Concerning the extension of an income tax credit to help income-qualified seniors afford housing. Senate Bill 25-016 (Updating Escrow Disbursement Practices): Concerning updating the framework governing escrow disbursements for real estate transactions. Senate Bill 25-020 (Tenant and Landlord Law Enforcement): Concerning the enforcement of existing landlord-tenant law.