Although it came at the end of his presentation Thursday night to the Hays city commission, a personal email shared by Grow Hays executive director Doug Williams is proof of the interest and need for affordable housing in Hays.
"Grow Hays' position is that the availability of affordable housing is critical to the recruitment and retention of a workforce in our community," Williams explained to the commissioners, "and without a workforce we cannot attract new businesses or retain the ones we have."
Grow Hays is the economic development organization for Hays and Ellis County.
"If we don't address affordable housing, we're not going to be able to recruit new businesses with 1.9% or 2% unemployment which is what we have in Ellis County. The ones we have could be in jeopardy because they can't find employees, and we consistently hear about the high cost of housing in Hays."
Williams acknowledged the definition of affordable housing is subjective. "Everyone has an opinion about what that is."
Grow Hays' plan to develop affordable housing, in collaboration with several community partners, would target the workforce, people downsizing their homes and single adults.
Affordable housing from a workforce standpoint, Williams says, is new homes costing between $175,000 and $225,000.
He showed an example to quantify the price.
Annual median household income for an Ellis County family is $50,952, according to the 2010 census. Most financial experts figure about a third of that gross income will go toward housing payments, or $1,265 a month. Ultimately, a 30-year-mortgage at 4% interest would borrow about $202,000, which falls within the Grow Hays affordable housing range.
Williams described the venture as a community project, "not for the motive of profit but for the motivation of trying to help the community."
Plans call for 75 houses to be built in four phases in east Hays at 22nd and Wheatland, directly east of NCK Technical College.
Williams previously approached the local Heart of America Development Corp. about using its resources for developing affordable housing, which in turn, he says, may allow Grow Hays to help them with industrial development.
Heart of America, an investment consortium in Ellis County, has developed industrial business areas throughout the county the past 40 years, including land near the Army Reserve Center and Glassman Corporation east of Commerce Parkway in Hays.
Heart of America supported the concept and the local financial lenders Williams has already talked to have agreed to participate, as have four builders.
Affordable land prices have also been an issue in Hays.
Williams had also approached the owner of the 21.44 acres at 22nd Wheatland, the William Lusk family in Wichita. Although they declined to donate the land, they did agree to sell it to Heart of America at a considerably reduced price.
"I told them this is gonna help Hays and this has the possibility of helping your adjacent (land) holdings become more valuable and selling over time.
"To their credit, they saw the benefit. They were kind enough and philanthropic enough, that it works."
Grow Hays is asking the city to establish a Rural Housing Improvement District (RHID) for the project, with one exception.
In an RHID, Hays, Ellis County and USD 489 forfeit a portion of the property tax paid by home buyers over 25 years to reimburse the developer for eligible project costs including water, sewer, street, sidewalk, curb and gutter, and underground utility costs.
The city's RHID policy currently requires the developer to include a minimum of 10 renter-occupied low income or low income units.
"Clearly this is not an apartment-type development," Williams stressed. "It's single family homes only somewhere in the 1,150 to 1,350 sq. foot range. Three bedrooms, two baths, two-car garage, some with basements."
After some discussion, John Bird, city attorney, advised commissioners an exception clause for non-profit developers, such as Heart of America, could be inserted into the policy.
In research done by Commissioner Mason Ruder, he said found a considerable shortage of homes for sale in Hays costing between $175,000 and $225,000. There are many more houses available costing more and also less.
"I'm super on board with this. It's a great, great thing," Ruder said.
The other new commissioner, Michael Berges, likes the idea of Hays forging ahead without waiting on state assistance from its new Office of Rural Prosperity.
"If you heard the governor in her State of the State address, she said Kansas can't wait for Washington, D.C.
"I would say Hays can't wait for the state of Kansas," Berges said.
"This is exactly the kind of project we can tackle on our own for the types of issues that, yes, this state is trying to tackle but I don't think we need anybody else to guide us."
Construction and design departments at Fort Hays State University and NCK-Tech would also be involved in the project development, Williams said.
He's hoping to see streets get put in and then construction of houses to begin in late summer.
Commissioners will consider the RHID request at their Jan. 23 meeting.