Wednesday, January 22, 2025
Making good on the motto “We Build Community,” the city of Concordia, along with its partners in the project, broke ground on the St. Joseph Subdivision on September 27.
Construction on the first homes at the subdivision, which is located at 11th Street and Highland Drive, was expected to begin this week.
There are 12 lots reserved for moderate income homes in the subdivision and currently there are committed buyers for the first two homes to be constructed.
“It is so exciting to be here when we are quite literally building community. We are going to be able to set some new homes in Concordia for the first time in a few decades, which is really exciting,” Concordia Mayor Chuck Lambertz said, during the groundbreaking ceremony. “As I look around, everyone here had a part in this.”
Lambertz said that the housing project shows what is possible when we come together as a community and find a good way to maximize the resources that we have.
“It really creates some of the traction and some of the momentum we want to see to keep building community. This is our next step, but it is not our last step,” Lambertz said. “To be able to be here is such a gift and I thank you for being a part of that gift. None of us could be here if all of us weren’t here.”
The St. Joseph Subdivision is part of the Concordia Middle Income Housing Project (MIH), which is a grassroots effort to address the housing needs in the community.
As far back as 2019, the need for housing had been presented to the city by builders, realtors and local businesses.
In 2022, the city and CloudCorp partnered to hire FIVE RULE Rural Planning, Kearney, Neb., to conduct a full housing study and market analysis specific to Concordia.
The study found a shortage of 245 moderate income homes and 12 high income homes.
In an effort to address housing needs in the state, the Kansas Department of Commerce/Kansas Housing Resources Commission launched the Middle Income Housing Grant project.
Concordia was awarded a $650,000 MIH Grant that will provide funds to acquire vacant infill lots for the construction of homes, to purchase materials for the homes to be constructed at the St. Joseph Subdivision and the infill lots, and to provide downpayment assistance to homebuyers.
The MIH grant is being layered with the Rural Housing Incentive District and Kansas Housing Income Tax credits to minimize development risk and the ultimate cost of home ownership.
JR & Sons General Contracting, which was selected as the homebuilder for the MIH Project, will invest its labor and equipment resources.
“We are lessening their risk by using the grant fund to purchase the materials. They are going to build a couple of houses at a time, sell those houses and then reinvest those grant funds again into the next homes,” Concordia City Manager Amy Lange said. “So, by contract, that will continue until the whole subdivision is built out, which is an incredible risk on their part but also an incredible example of their commitment to this project and this community. We really appreciate that.”
The proposed homes for the MIH Project will be three bedroom, two bathroom slab-on-grade homes of approximately 1,200 square feet.
The St. Joseph Subdivision is located on the site of the old Cloud County Health Center (St. Joseph Hospital).
With the construction of the new North Central Kansas Medical Center on College Drive, and the demolition of the old hospital building, the hospital board approved donating the land, approximately seven acres, to the city of Concordia Land Bank to be used for the housing subdivision.
“You are standing and sitting on St. Joseph Circle. Why is that important? Because the Sisters of St. Joseph, who have been in our community and positively contributing for the last century to Concordia and the surrounding communities, built the hospital, St. Joseph hospital, here in 1951. That was the hospital that was torn down, and this street, St. Joseph Circle, is now on top of where that hospital building was. In honor of their incredible contributions over the last century, that is why we named this project the St. Joseph Subdivision,” Lange said.
The infrastructure for the project was completed earlier this year.
Along with the lots for the middle income homes there are also four lots being reserved for high income homes.
The MIH Project also includes four vacant lots in established neighborhoods in the community where middle income homes will be constructed.
All of the moderate income lots will receive the benefit of a free lot, down payment assistance, use of the MIH grant funds for construction materials and the tax credits.
“What you are now standing on is an incredible milestone achievement of this incredible project for Concordia, the first residential subdivision in Concordia in 40 years. Additionally, we hope to build the first homes inside the city limits of Concordia in 10 years. That is an incredible feat, as we have torn down nearly 100 homes during the past decade,” Lange said.
