A new Kansas City housing fund hopes to address the region’s housing shortage by providing financial support for developers to build more affordable units.
The Kansas City Regional Housing Fund, announced on Tuesday at Union Station, currently has about $25 million available, and civic leaders want to grow that fund to $100 million. The goal with that funding is to support 5,000 affordable housing units across the Kansas City metro.
The Greater Kansas City Local Initiatives Support Coalition and LISC Fund Management will oversee the program.
“Housing costs continue to rise at a rate far greater than incomes, putting millions at risk of housing instability and pushing homeownership out of reach for many,” Geoff Jolley, executive director of LISC in Kansas City, said at Tuesday’s announcement. “Often, these experiences are felt disproportionately by certain populations in our communities.”
Jolley said the housing fund came as a result of collaboration among elected officials, nonprofits, civic groups and financial organizations.
The Regional Housing Fund is meant to provide low-cost funding to developers that are focused on creating and preserving affordable, mixed-income housing.
Joe Reardon, president and CEO of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, said creating a bigger stock of housing is also a workforce issue.
“We can attract new employers and create thousands of jobs, but if the people filling those positions can't afford to live in the communities where they work, we're creating a barrier to our own economic success,” said Reardon.
“When people have to travel farther to find housing they can afford, it affects their quality of life, their household budgets, and their ability to participate fully in our regional economy,” he said.
According to research from the nonprofit association of city and county governments called Mid-America Regional Council, the Kansas City metro, which encompasses 9 counties, has a shortage of 29,000 homes. Part of that growing shortage, MARC found, comes from Kansas City building fewer and fewer homes.
“This is causing upward pressure on housing costs, and it's making housing unattainable for our low and moderate income residents,” said MARC Executive Director Geraldine Ide Gardner.
In particular, the Kansas City region is seeing more people renting and a shortage of homes where the owner lives in the household. Kansas City has 57,000 fewer owner-occupied homes compared to the year 2000, according to MARC.
To receive funding, developers will be able to apply to the housing fund and be approved. According to reporting from the Kansas City Beacon, at least 51% of the housing units supported by the fund must be affordable to households earning 80% of the area median income or less.
Kansas City Council member Ryana Parks-Shaw, who represents the 5th District, said the fund brings local governments, housing providers, community groups and the private sector together to tackle the issue.
“It gives our region a practical tool to close financing gaps that can create barriers for creating housing, while also helping to preserve homes that residents can continue to afford,” she said.
