KSHB 41 reporter Rachel Henderson covers neighborhoods in Wyandotte and Leavenworth counties. Share your story idea with Rachel.
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Kansas City, Kansas, is tackling its affordable housing crisis with a multi-pronged approach that includes modular homes, financial incentives and strategic development on vacant lots.
The effort has strong support from city leadership who are focused on comprehensive community renewal.
Brennan Crawford is the executive director and CEO of Build WyCo, a 25-year-old community development organization that builds and repairs homes in Wyandotte County.
The nonprofit has built hundreds of homes, particularly east of Interstate 635.
"Anything that looks new inside the 635 loop over the past 25 years, chances are, we built it," Crawford said.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, housing costs and home values have increased while incomes have remained stagnant. That disparity created new challenges for home buyers.
"We had a lot of housing stock that was affordable, just a lot that was of high quality," Crawford said. "The cost of housing is rising much, much higher than incomes are rising."
The rising costs of housing are particularly harmful to vulnerable populations.
"It's bad for people on fixed incomes because it means that property tax assessments are rising, it means that rents are rising," Crawford said.
Crawford believes the issue goes beyond just housing availability.
"At a certain price point, we don't really have an affordable housing problem as much as we have an income distribution problem," Crawford said.
Build WyCo uses multiple strategies to help with the problems.
One cost-reducing measure involves building modular homes, which are built in a factory and then assembled on a housing site.
The nonprofit also utilizes financial incentives, including Federal Home Loan Bank down payment assistance and grant-funded programs.
"It's really about using all of the tools at our disposal," Crawford said. "There is no magic bullet. There is no one size fits all approach that solves affordable housing and neighborhood development issues."
The organization uses a community land trust model that reduces home prices by about one-third.
They also focus on increasing housing density by adding accessible living units to existing homes and developing on vacant lots.
"These gap-tooth lots are real problems for the neighborhoods," Crawford said. "As we go further into the Northeast, there's more and more and more vacant land because of decades of disinvestment, redlining, Black flight, white flight."
Crawford says affordable housing should cost less than three times a family's annual income.
Beyond construction, Build WyCo offers certified counseling, home repair services, low-cost lending and runs an arts program.
Mayor Christal Watson says she’s prioritizing housing development throughout Wyandotte County, with a particular focus on historically underserved areas.
"My staff and I have had probably a developer in our office once a week," Watson said. "It's amazing how people are. Companies are coming to us and wanting to do more."
In an interview Tuesday, Watson shared that she’s focusing on development opportunities across the county while the new Chiefs stadium is being planned.
"The focus for me is what happens between now and the time that stadium is built,” Watson said. “Where is development opportunity elsewhere, east of 635, in the northeast area. Our downtown area for that matter.”
The mayor believes increased development over the next five years can help offset any stadium costs and strengthen the county's financial position.
"I am more focused on building, resetting, renewing and rebuilding Wyandotte County in those areas so that we can build our tax base and find other revenue streams so that regardless of what happens with the stadium, we're still in a good place and not in a place where we have to raise taxes," Watson said.
When asked if development can offset construction costs, Watson was direct.
"Absolutely," Watson said. "I'm confident that we'll have the building blocks to do it. I'm confident that we'll see more housing."
Watson emphasized her commitment to ensuring development benefits all residents.
"My job is to protect all of Wyandotte County, but I have a special interest for our disenfranchised areas particularly," Watson said. "The doors of business are open for the UG."
Crawford emphasized the need for continued engagement and transparency from the UG to address housing challenges.
"We need commissioners to be present in the neighborhoods they represent, we need them to be accessible," Crawford said.
Both Watson and Crawford hope housing development provides a long-lasting solution to the area's affordable housing challenges while revitalizing neighborhoods that have missed out on development.
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