After multiple years of work to pull it together, Overland Park has officially launched its Portfolio Homes pilot program.
This pilot offers a collection of pre-selected, nearly pre-approved designs to encourage the development of diverse housing choices and reduce costly pre-development costs.
The idea, city staff have said, is to increase the housing supply in the middle of the housing spectrum, which is sometimes referred to as “missing middle” housing — that is, more mid-sized and moderately priced housing options that are largely absent from Johnson County’s increasingly expensive market.
“The goal of the [pilot] is to increase housing supply, give options that are not just large single-family or large apartments,” said Director of Planning and Development Services Leslie Karr during a May committee meeting.
How does the Portfolio Homes pilot work?
The city’s portfolio features 26 pre-reviewed plans for smaller single-family homes and duplexes designed to blend in with existing neighborhood architecture in Overland Park.
The home designs range in size from under 1,000 square feet to about 2,200 square feet and are all either one or two stories. Most come with at least three bedrooms and two bathrooms.
These designs would be available for any individual or developer to use for free on any lot in the city already zoned for residential uses. The city has also waived permit fees for homes built as part of the portfolio homes pilot.
All of that, staff have said, should simplify the process as a way to encourage this type of development toward the middle of the housing spectrum.
The idea is that these designs are almost build-ready, save for a few administrative tasks before the city would issue actual building permits. Using these designs would fast-track the process over starting from scratch.
“While we don’t have a specific target for the number of housing units to be built under the program, we think it does provide another alternative method to meet our housing demand,” said Meg Ralph, director of strategic communications, in an emailed statement.
Overland Park is prioritizing more varied housing stock
Housing choice and affordability emerged as a theme during Overland Park’s Forward OP strategic planning process back in 2018. From that, the city’s planning department started focusing on ways to encourage different types of housing stock.
In general, housing — and the persistent shortage of it — has been a hot issue around Johnson County as Overland Park and other cities grapple with how to fill gaps in the market.
“Housing, I think, is our number one community issue right now,” Overland Park Councilmember Logan Heley said at a committee meeting over the summer.
At the same meeting, he also said that he thinks efforts like the Portfolio Homes pilot could go a long way toward getting more attainable housing on the market.
Keep reading: In Johnson County, cost and land availability can be roadblocks to housing projects
