GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH in Garden Grove (Tribune photo).

A 26-unit townhome project proposed to be built on unused property behind a West Garden Grove church was approved unanimously by the Garden Grove City Council on Tuesday night.

The council voted 7-0 in favor of the development to be constructed at 5802 Santa Catalina Ave., west of Valley View Street.

Proposed by Brandywine Homes, the two-story housing complex was described on Tuesday as a win-win situation for residents of the area and the congregation of the Grace Baptist Church.

Established in the 1960s to serve the west side of Garden Grove, it’s now considered a “sunset church” with declining numbers of congregants because of aging attendees, demographic changes and a facility in need of modernization.

The sale of the surplus property behind the church will allow for a more contemporary campus, supporters said.

Also at the meeting, the council recognized the coaches and players of the Santiago High School boys basketball team for winning the school’s first CIF-SS championship.