Overland Park is addressing housing affordability with predesigned homes
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The Evelyn single-family home, left, and the Matilda duplex. Photos: Courtesy of the City of Overland Park
Overland Park unveiled a housing program Tuesday offering predesigned dwellings and waived permit fees to encourage more diversified construction.
Why it matters: The city has plenty of big houses and apartment buildings, but it lacks the quantity of middle-ground housing that residents say they want.
Zoom in: The Portfolio Homes project provides architectural plans for 26 types of homes, including single-family houses and duplexes.
- Homebuilders choose a plot, select a design, and work with city staff on the details.
- Cosmetic changes can be made without additional review.
By the numbers: In September, 803 homes in Overland Park were for sale at a median listing price of $630,000, per realtor.com. The median sale price was $505,200.
- And Johnson County leads the metro in most apartment units under construction as of Q3 this year.
- The Portfolio Homes designs, which range from 640 to 2,197 square feet, would cost roughly $140,000 to $479,000 based on September's average cost per square foot in OP.
Flashback: "In Overland Park, we build primarily large single-family homes and apartments," Jack Messer, former director of planning and development services for the city, said at a public housing meeting in 2019, when the project started.
- Messer said residents wanted the city to create "diverse housing options" that addressed affordability.
Context: The Portfolio Homes project was delayed by the pandemic and required lots of work to make sure designs were quick and affordable to build while remaining high-quality, city spokesperson Meg Ralph tells Axios.
- Ralph says it also follows the city's comprehensive plan, a policy guide based on community input on how the city should grow that was overhauled last year.
What's inside: The comprehensive plan states that OP has a high percentage of "missing middle" housing — like duplexes and cottage homes — compared to the rest of the metro.
- The document says the city needs to have more housing for older residents and critical workers, including teachers and first responders.
Stunning stat: Nearly a fourth of Overland Park households are cost-burdened, meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on their home, per the comprehensive plan.
What they're saying: "The goal of the project was to increase the types of housing options that are easy to build in Overland Park, which will hopefully increase the availability of homes," Ralph tells Axios.
The bottom line: Affording a home in Overland Park can be a challenge, one that officials are addressing with easier construction of "missing middle" homes.