Recent action by the state of Kansas opens the doors — literally — to a residential development avenue long sought by Emporia Main Street.
Administrators with Main Street have been working on upper story development options for over a decade, and the state recently passed policies through the Rural Housing Incentive District program that now makes it a lot easier for upper story development to happen. Main Street Director Casey Woods calls this huge for Emporia, both for downtown and as a whole.
Senate Bill 90 allows for upper-story development in buildings at least 25 years old on Kansas main streets and downtown districts. Cities with populations under 60,000 are eligible for this program.
This follows recent changes in the city of Emporia’s new RHID incentive policy, which allows for a larger range of housing developments than the original policy passed several years ago. It also shifts the financing burden off developers to a degree, in part by giving the city an option of self-financing the purchase and development of land for future projects.
Housing supply, whether for homes or apartments, has been in short supply for some time. City Commissioner Becky Smith says the same rules apply for developers — and she says the state recognizes issues with housing availability across Kansas.
Upper-story development projects must be approved by the state.
Putting upper-story development in the state’s RHID policy is big because, Woods says, this could open up at least 200 units in downtown Emporia. He says the 300 to 800 blocks of both Commercial and Merchant have “a significant amount” of upper stories that could be converted. Woods says anecdotal evidence indicates people living downtown will spend a larger percentage of their disposable income at downtown businesses, and an increase of people living downtown could prompt more businesses to stay open later to meet that demand. This could also help residents’ bank accounts because people in the Flint Hills spend around 36 percent more on fuel costs than the national average.
