Shawnee rentable house community is part of a national trend
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Rendering of Harmony at Clear Creek. Image: Courtesy of Material Capital Partners
Shawnee is joining a popular trend of building houses that are made to rent — not purchase — with the groundbreaking of a new $77.8 million community.
Why it matters: The Kansas City metro's fast-paced population growth is providing an attractive market for diversified housing projects, with build-to-rent dwellings offering an alternative to apartments and homeownership in a tight market.
Zoom in: Charleston-based Material Capital Partners (MCP), a real estate investment firm, broke ground on the 188-home Shawnee community dubbed Harmony at Clear Creek earlier this month.
- A mix of detached houses and townhomes will range from $3,200 to $3,700 per month, MCP tells Axios.
- The project will include shared amenities like coworking spaces, a gym, a pool and a dog park.
Zoom out: Build-to-rent construction rose 134% from 2019-2024, per a recent report by Fixr, a housing data company.
- These options are seen as flexible and convenient — they're move-in ready homes with yards, garages and patios, but they don't have the burdens of home ownership attached, like down payments and maintenance.
Context: Johnson County currently leads the metro in new apartments due to population growth, available land and strong employment bases.
- Alex Chalmers, founder of MCP, called KC a "supply-constrained market with strong demand" and "one of the fastest rent growth markets in the country" in a statement.
Between the lines: Build-to-rent projects also offer an incentive for developers: Rent can increase.
- Leases on build-to-rent homes in the Midwest rose 4.2% year-over-year as of Q1 2025, considerably more than they did nationally (1.3%), per John Burns Research and Consulting.
What they're saying: "It's about giving people more choices in how they live, while contributing to the overall housing supply in a growing part of the Kansas City metro," Khrista Villegas, managing director of MCP, tells Axios. "More and more families are looking for flexibility."
The intrigue: Greystar, the property management company that MCP will use at Harmony at Clear Creek, has been sued by the Federal Trade Commission for deceiving renters with hidden fees, which Greystar has denied.
- The company recently settled two other cases that accused the company of fixing prices and charging servicemembers illegal fees.
- MCP didn't address the Greystar lawsuit when Axios asked, but Villegas said in a response that their partnership "ensures our neighborhoods are not only well-managed but truly feel like home for our residents."
What's next: MPC anticipates the first units will be ready to rent next October, with the entire project done in February 2028.