FAIRWAY, Kan. — It's not uncommon to see construction sites frequently popping up in traditional neighborhoods throughout the City of Fairway.
Fairway spans roughly one square mile and it's centrally located in the Kansas City metro area.
About 95% of the city's housing stock are single family homes, according to Nathan Nogelmeier, Fairway's city administrator.
"What some of the neighboring cities are seeing now, we've been experiencing for two decades," Nogelmeier said. "It’s largely the tear down and rebuild phenomenon that other cities are starting to see now, but we’ve been experiencing for some time."
KSHB 41's In Depth Reporter Alyssa Jackson got data from the city showing there have been 184 new single-family homes built in Fairway since 2003.
Fairway only has so much land, meaning it isn't creating new subdivisions. It's redeveloping what it has.
Construction in the past several years has been fairly consistent.
"The market drives the housing demand, so we are responsive to that, but we have been redefining the process of redevelopment in the community for 20 years," Nogelmeier said.
Last year was the highest year of single family home construction on record for the city in the past 22 years.
Seven new homes have been built so far in 2025.
Sixteen new homes were built in 2024.
Eleven new homes were built in 2023.
Fifteen new homes were built in 2022.
Jim Engle, owner of James Engle Custom Homes, currently has home rebuild projects under construction in Johnson County.
"One of the things we've noticed is a lot of the houses built in Fairway were built right after World War II," Engle said. "So houses were built fairly quickly using engineering probably designed to last about 75-80 years."
Engle's company is one of the contractors with the highest number of requests for home rebuilds in Johnson County, especially in Fairway.
He said: "In the last 10 to 15 years, we have completely changed our business model."
The company is now focusing exclusively on home rebuilds.
James Engle Custom Homes, LLC averages five to 10 home tear downs and rebuilds per year in Fairway.
However, it's not a quick process.
"A lot of red tape," Engle said. "When I started building 25 years ago, we could get a permit in one day and now it's taking upwards of three months."
These are just some of the requirements in Fairway's city code:
- Requires all new home permit applications to go to the city's planning commission.
- Take a survey to ensure awareness of boundaries and property lines.
- Requires every new home to get a watershed analysis.
- Requires tree protection fencing to preserve right of way trees.
- Requires erosion control so water and mud doesn't run into the street during the construction process.
- A new requirement added in 2024 states contractors must secure the perimeter of construction projects with a 6-foot fence to keep the site safe.
- New homes can only be 30 ft. tall.
- Provide architectural relief.
Fairway evaluates its city codes every year, the city administrator said.
The city is just one example of a changing housing market. It's not on the way — it's breaking ground next door.
"I don’t think it’s a matter of if you like it or don’t," Nogelmeier, Fairway's city administrator, said. "It’s accepting that expectations and demand changes over time and you have to be willing to be flexible."
