Kansas City, Missouri – Kansas City is turning a major housing vote into 907 potential front doors. City leaders approved $24.5 million for projects ranging from senior apartments and affordable duplexes to emergency shelter beds and home repairs.
More than 80% of the planned homes will be affordable. Of the 907 units expected across the city, 746 are intended for residents who may otherwise struggle to find stable housing.
The investment combines $16.4 million from Kansas City’s Housing Trust Fund with $8 million from the Central City Economic Development sales tax fund. Together, the two funding rounds will support 26 projects serving families, seniors, young people, people experiencing homelessness and individuals living with HIV/AIDS.
“Every award-winning project helps families leave homelessness, build stronger lives, and invests in working people and seniors in our community,” Mayor Quinton Lucas said.
He pointed to seniors remaining in their neighborhoods, young people finding safe beds and parents receiving help to repair their homes as examples of the fund’s purpose.
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The Housing Trust Fund portion will be divided among 16 projects. The largest awards include $2 million each for One Nine Vine Phase II and 909 Wyandotte, nearly $2 million for Youth Haven, $1.8 million for Hope Care Center and $1.6 million for The Belmont.
Other recipients include Hampton Cove Senior Living, Linwood Senior Commons, Urban 38, the Family Lodge Expansion Project and Operation Breakthrough’s Harrison Project. Funding will also support affordable duplex construction, transitional housing, homeownership assistance and efforts to preserve existing homes.
Another 10 projects will receive money through the CCED fund, which voters established in 2017 to encourage development between 9th Street and Gregory Boulevard, from Paseo Boulevard to Indiana Avenue.
Justin Place Apartments and 1815 Paseo will each receive $1.5 million, while Parade Park was awarded $1.25 million. Additional funding will go toward Blue Hills Town Homes, Montgall Place, minor home repairs in Santa Fe and affordable homeownership projects.
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The 1815 Paseo project carries a historic dimension. The former Holy Ghost New Testament Church, once targeted for demolition, will be stabilized, removed from the Dangerous Buildings List and adapted for commercial and community use.
Kansas City also attached safeguards to the awards. Certain projects must secure state tax credits by established deadlines, and every recipient must begin construction within one year of signing a contract. Otherwise, the money returns to the city for future housing investments.
Since 2018, the Housing Trust Fund has committed $60 million to 42 projects that created or preserved more than 3,000 affordable homes. CCED has awarded nearly $90 million to 57 developments.
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The latest investment arrives before the August 4 election, when Kansas City voters will consider renewing both a $100 million affordable housing bond and the one-eighth-cent CCED sales tax.
