Emporia City Commissioners Wednesday took the first of many steps in bringing a sizeable housing development to the community.
As part of their regular action session, commissioners adopted an “initial findings resolution” to establish the Cedarbrook Meadows development as a Reinvestment Housing Incentive District, which is the first step in the RHID process and does not authorize any incentives or establish the district, according to City Manager Trey Cocking on the most recent installment of the Q&A With Trey Tuesday. Cocking explains that if the RHID is established, it would allow developers of Cedarbrook Meadows to capture only new property tax increments to support eligible project costs for constructing the nearly 40-acre development.
The proposed development is set to include the construction of more than 120 housing units of 6,240 square feet, which was scaled down from the original plan of 7,000 square feet following months of back-and-forth discussions between developers and the Emporia Metropolitan Area Planning Commission. According to Cocking the housing units could range in price between $200,000 $300,000.
With this information in mind, KVOE News asked Cocking if this was a reasonable price for the local community that has been working for several years to provide more affordable housing. Specifically, KVOE News asked if this could be considered affordable for the average resident or first-time home buyers, to which he stated “No,” however, he does not believe that is who the developers are targeting with this project.
KVOE News then asked if there would be enough demand to sell the homes scheduled for construction and if not, what would be the impacts to Emporia and its taxpayers. Cocking says the city has been very diligent in planning for such a scenario, saying the city made it clear it would not be putting any financial risk on taxpayers.
Cocking also noted that while first-time home buyers may not be moving into the development, there will still be benefits to them as the availability of the larger priced homes may see a lot of current owners making a move, thus creating more supply in housing and transitioning the local housing market from a seller’s market to a buyer’s market.
Cocking also noted that this project is a multi-phase development, with developers currently eyeing six phases, that could also see the construction of commercial property, senior housing and more. Overall, Cocking anticipates the entire project will be a 10-15-year endeavor.
