$100M plan targets KC's affordable housing shortage
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Announced at the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce. Photo: Travis Meier/Axios
Kansas City doesn't have nearly enough affordable housing, and local leaders say developers need better ways to pay to build cheap new homes.
Why it matters: The metro's affordable housing shortage is straining household budgets while also threatening economic growth and workforce recruitment, according to the Mid-America Regional Council.
Driving the news: Leaders gathered at Union Station on Tuesday to announce the Kansas City Regional Housing Fund, designed to fuel affordable housing across the nine-county metro.
- The goal is to raise $100 million to build and preserve up to 5,000 units.
How it works: The Regional Housing Fund is meant to fill in the gaps between commercial lending and public subsidies, putting less cost burden on developers and absorbing lending risk.
By the numbers: The KC metro is 29,000 units behind in affordable housing production, says MARC executive director Geraldine Ide Gardner.
- MARC estimates KC could lose more than 10,000 affordable homes over the next decade as cheap units disappear and higher-end apartments skyrocket.
- A local family of four making $90,736 a year — or 80% of the median family income — is considered low-income in 2026, per HUD estimates.
- Up to 41% of local renter households spend more than 30% of their gross income on housing.
What they're saying: "The ability of the region's workforce to find affordable rental and owner housing to meet their needs has become increasingly challenging and limits opportunities for the region to attract new workers," a 2024 MARC analysis states.
- If you care about education, health disparities and economic opportunity for residents, "you must also care about their housing," Geoff Jolley, executive director of LISC Greater Kansas City, said Tuesday.
Follow the money: The fund is starting with $25 million from several founding investors: $15 million from the Kemper-led UMB Bank, $5 million from the Health Forward Foundation, $3 million from the Bloch family and H&R Block foundations, and $2 million from the Hall Family Foundation.
- Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) will manage the fund. The company manages similar funds in Cleveland, Detroit, San Francisco, Charlotte and Dallas.
Flashback: Kansas City voters in August approved $100 million in bonds to replenish the city's affordable trust fund, which also aims to build 5,000 units.
Reality check: Even if these combined funds built 10,000 new units, the metro would still be short 19,000.
What's next: LISC KC is seeking additional fund contributors and affordable housing developers.