Breakfast links: Would you live in a church?

Are churches the new frontier of development?

Churches all over the region are strapped for cash, with average attendance being much lower than it was a decade ago. One result is a growing trend of developers buying church property and turning it into apartments and retail space.    (Dan Reed / Washingtonian)

Are DC buildings reliable for the long term?

Numerous older buildings around the region are being repurposed to meet new housing and business needs. Others, on the other hand, are being torn down, with new ones going up in their place. Kojo Nnamdi discusses which buildings we can expect to have the longest (and shortest) lifespans.  (The Kojo Nnamdi Show)

Alexandria is raising property taxes to fund schools, sewers, and subway

Alexandria needs to update its sewer system, account for growing schools, and chip in on rising Metro costs, so the city council passed a 5.7 cent property tax increase. That ties Alexandria with Fairfax as the Northern Virginia jurisdiction with the highest base tax rate.  (Patricia Sullivan / Post)

One in four homes for sale in DC is $1 million or more

325 of the 1,266 homes for sale in DC in April (over 25 percent) were valued at over $1 million. Though individual neighborhoods have a higher percentage of these $1 million listings, the citywide trend is prices going up.  (Urban Turf)

The Trolley Trail is almost finished in Riverdale… almost

A new Whole Foods is open in Riverdale Park, but a portion of the Trolley Trail that runs next to the construction site is not, even though it looks like it's ready for people to use it. For as long as this portion of the trail is closed, people will have to detour along the busy Route 1.  (WashCycle)