The City of Topeka partnered with St. Louis-based urban planning and real estate consulting firm Development Strategies to create a detailed Citywide Housing Market Study and Strategy. The study was adopted by a motion of the Governing Body on July 21, 2020 and culminates the first comprehensive analysis of the city’s affordable housing needs in thirty years. A 12-member steering committee made up of housing partner organizations guided the process along with 95 key housing and neighborhood stakeholders. The Study & Strategy answered four key questions:
- What is the current supply of housing and is it positioned to meet future housing demand across a range of household affordability?
- What types of housing are missing in the market?
- What are the barriers and opportunities for diversifying Topeka’s housing stock?
- What tools, programs, and organizations are needed to advance Topeka’s housing priorities?
The motion approved by the Governing Body states: “adopt the study as an invaluable collection of data and strategy options, and requests the City Manager work with citizens, staff, providers and Council to draft a starting implementation plan in 120 days”. To that end, the Steering Committee was joined by affordable housing providers, study sponsors, neighborhood leaders, and elected officials to produce an action plan in 120 days that kick starts implementation of the study. The Implementation Plan 2021 was approved by the Governing Body on December 8, 2020.
Implementation Plan
Implementation Plan 2022 Appendix
Implementation Plan 2021 Appendix
Misc. Documents
Topeka Land Bank Presentation (10/28/2022)
Study Documents
Topeka Citywide Housing Market Study and Strategy (full document)
- Executive Summary
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 – Understand: Housing Trends
- Chapter 2 – Understand: Neighborhood Context
- Chapter 3 – Housing Market Analysis
- Chapter 4 – Defining the Need
- Chapter 5 – Housing & Investment Strategies
- Chapter 6 – Prioritization & Implementation
- Appendices
The Process
Meeting #3 Materials
Meeting #2 Materials
Meeting #1 Materials
The Presentations
Governing Body Presentation (July 14, 2020)
Topeka Housing Strategy with Narrative Study Presentation (February, 2020)
The Media Coverage
The Steering Committee
Roles & Responsibilities
Provide broad perspective about housing issues and trends
Advise about housing issues that need to be addressed
Identify blind spots
Inform about community challenges and history that cannot be ignored
Help define future direction of housing policy
Accountability
Participate in implementation
Members
Rick Kready
Pioneer Group
Trey George
THA, Inc.
Jeanette Spurgin
KHRC
Tom Thull
FHL Bank
Kathy Clark
Momentum 2022
Stephen Schiffelbein
JUMP
Ivan Weichert
Topeka Area Building Association
Linda Briden
Sunflower Realtor’s Association
Theresa Baker
Housing & Credit Counseling
Katrina Ringler
Planning Commission
James Prout
CAC Chair
Lloyd Rainge
Capitol Federal
The Partners
The City of Topeka would like to thank it’s partners for making this housing study possible for our community.
