Kansas Lt. Governor David Toland has heralded Emporia as a “model” of economic development for the state of Kansas following a recent stop in town Thursday.
After walking in the annual Veterans Day parade Thursday morning, Toland made his way to the 700 block of Commerical Street to view a historic development project currently underway. Toland took a tour of Emporia’s new upper story Rural Housing Incentive District project set to transform 714, 716 and 718 Commercial into upper story housing.
This follows action by the Kansas Legislature earlier this year to pass Senate Bill 90 allowing for upper-story development in buildings at least 25 years old on Kansas main streets and in downtown districts. Emporia’s development is the very first in the state of Kansas and Lt. Governor Toland says this is not only a great opportunity for Emporia but other communities across the state as well.
Lt. Governor Toland was a large proponent of the legislation that was passed to make developments such as Emporia’s a reality. Developer Jamie Sauder says it was an honor to give Toland a tour and allow him to see the fruits of his labors.
Emporia City Commissioners granted official RHID status to the development back in late October. Plans are to construct 10 residential units in the upper portion of each building with the bottom half to serve as commercial property which are completely separate from the RHID program.
