Construction is underway for the first build-to-rent community in Kansas at aimed people looking to live in a house without buying it.
Earlier this month, Material Capital Partners broke ground on Harmony at Clear Creek in Shawnee, a new community being built along Silverheel Street near Kansas Highway 7.
The development has been in discussion since 2022, when Material Capital Partners submitted the project to the Shawnee’s governing body. It is the first project in Kansas for the South Carolina-based real estate firm.
“It’s a big project and a huge win. I think it’s going to be a great asset for Shawnee. (I’m) looking forward to delivering a project that the neighbors and everyone around are happy to see whenever they drive by,” David Craig, director of development for Material Capital Partners, said in an interview with the Johnson County Post.
A build-to-rent community is a neighborhood of single-family homes built specifically for rent, instead being sold, according to Material Capital Partners. It recently secured a $77.8 million construction loan from the Arkansas-based Bank OZK to start work on the project.
Craig noted that Harmony Creek’s debut marks the first build-to-rent community of its kind in the state.
The project is a mixture of single-family and townhomes
The project includes 188 residential units, including 97 single-family homes, as well as 91 townhome units spread across 20 buildings. They will all include three to four bedrooms.
The community also features amenities, like a resort-style pool, two-level clubhouse with a fitness center and co-working spaces, pocket parks and walking trails.
The development is aimed at tenants looking to live in a home without worries of maintenance or HOA fees.
“Our tenants are what we call ‘Renters by choice,’ which (is) people that have the means to buy a house, but they prefer to live in a rental home for kind of that maintenance-free lifestyle,” Craig said.
Rental prices for the homes will be at market rate, Craig added.
The development narrowly passed a previous governing body
In 2023, the Shawnee City Council narrowly approved rezoning and preliminary plans for the project, with a 5-4 vote, with current councilmembers Tony Gillette, Jacklynn Walters and Mike Kemmling, as well as now-former councilmember Tammy Thomas, in dissent.
During the meeting, Gillette and Thomas expressed skepticism that the development had adequate parking, roads for emergency vehicles, and worries that traffic that would spill out to Silverheel and 64th streets.
One resident, Josh Walker, felt it was too much density for the area.
“This is a super high-density [project],” he said. “It may not show that on paper because of the total area of the site … The rentals are stacked on top of each other and not in harmony with the surrounding areas.”
More than two years after that meeting, Craig said he thinks the development will prove itself to be an asset to the city.
“We met with a lot of the neighborhood groups, and we did a lot of market surveys to make sure that — because this is a big project — that this is going to be in high demand, and it’s our conclusion that it will be,” he said. “So I think this will fill a nice gap for Shawnee and Johnson County.”
The project is expected to be completed in 2028
The project will be completed in phases, with it expected to be finished in summer 2028.
“We can’t build 188 homes at the same time, but there’s never going to be stops and starts,” Craig said. “We’re going to keep moving throughout the community until it’s done.”
Go deeper: Shawnee council narrowly approves residential project aimed at renters
