A cul-de-sac of modestly priced homes in Olathe was the backdrop recently for a visit by U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, who spoke with local experts about how to get more affordably priced homes built.
Davids, a Johnson County Democrat, met privately with home builders, county and city officials last Friday, Feb. 27, as well as the president of Habitat for Humanity KC, the nonprofit that built the cul-de-sac known as Olathe Pathway at Heritage Park.
The congresswoman later took a short tour of two homes in the subdivision near 159th and Black Bob Road that are substantially completed.
Davids and the roundtable participants drilled down on various challenges, including a supply chain inflexible to newer and less expensive building materials, an aging workforce of contractors, efforts to train and encourage young people in the building trades and financing strategies.
“The math just doesn’t pencil out”
A press release from Davids office noted ahead of the meeting that 55,000 fewer rental homes are available in Kansas in 2021 than demand could fill, according to data from the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
The report also noted 40% of renters in Johnson County forego necessities like food, health care and child care to afford rent.
Add to that the idea that a $400,000 home is now considered affordable and the struggle for working families, some with breadwinners working two or three jobs, and the challenges become obvious, Davids said.
“You can see that the math just doesn’t pencil out, and this is why there are so many people who are struggling,” she said. “My biggest fear is how many people we are going to see who are experiencing homelessness even when they’re working at their jobs.”
Davids also mentioned her Housing Affordability Agenda, a package of seven bills aimed at lowering the costs of homes and increasing their supply.
The bills come from Davids’ colleagues in the New Democrat Coalition, a group of center-left Democrats working across the aisle on housing and other issues.
JoCo Habitat projects have faced opposition
Habitat for Humanity has pioneered one way of meeting the need with two projects in Johnson County that use a community land trust to keep homes affordable, the one in Olathe and another 50-home subdivision recently approved in Lenexa.
Habitat vets homebuyers for steady income and rental history, conducts a criminal background check, and also looks to ensure they can build equity in the homes.
Even so, the two Habitat projects in Johnson County have faced outspoken opposition from neighboring residents.
The Olathe Pathways project began in 2023 and welcomed its first resident in January. The development of 14 homes now has two completed with the others expected to be finished and ready for move-in by the end of this year.
The Lenexa project, on 17 acres of land near 86th Terrace and Clare Road, west of Kansas Highway 7, was approved only after an hours-long city council meeting attended by opponents and supporters alike.
Neighboring residents have sued the city to block that project, asserting, among other things, that city officials conducted secret negotiations over the project and did not give proper public notice about its deliberations.
Residents in Olathe also voiced similar concerns about transparency during the process to approve the Olathe project more than two years ago.
More Habitat projects in JoCo possible?
Opponents in both places have also raised fears that the homes Habitat is building don’t match the character or quality of existing homes nearby and that neighbors could see their property values decline.
Lindsay Hicks, president and CEO of Habitat for Humanity of Kansas City, attended last week’s meeting with Davids.
She said it’s important to combat fear of projects by focusing on the need and continuing to build similar developments.
“These are quality homes and neighborhoods that are needed within our community,” she said on Friday. “The average house is appraising at higher than $500,000 in Johnson County. We’re pricing so many families out.”
She said Habitat continues to get suggestions about places to bring more such projects and has looked at some other parcels in Johnson County, but so far things have been only in the very early stages.
Megan Foreman, the county’s housing coordinator, also attended the roundtable. She said the Habitat projects are cause for optimism.
“I would just encourage people to get out and really see what these neighborhoods are because they’re creating more than just housing. They’re creating neighborhoods,” Foreman said.
