Spending tax dollars on downtown luxury apartment project is a problem
The Cordish Companies and Kansas City are edging closer to an agreement over public subsidies for a new high-rise apartment downtown — an agreement that could eventually provide center-city housing options for moderate income tenants.
While the details of the deal are in flux, Kansas City Manager Troy Schulte has provided the framework: Cordish would agree to build 100 units of “affordable” housing at the Midland office building downtown. In return, city money would provide $17.5 million for parking at Three Light — a new, roughly 300-unit apartment planned nearby — and an additional $3.8 million for the Midland.
The Kansas City Council could consider the compromise as early as Thursday.
In a meeting Tuesday with The Star’s editorial board, Cordish’s Nick Benjamin complained about the last-minute effort to change the terms of the Three Light deal. An earlier compromise, which could lead to some affordable units outside of downtown, is still worth considering, he said.
He also argued the city lacks a formal definition of “affordable” housing. By his calculation, 40 percent of the units in One Light and Two Light are already affordable.
Lack of communication is a concern. City Councilwoman Katheryn Shields said she and her colleagues were unaware the city was negotiating with Cordish last year, and were unable to raise early objections to the subsidies for Three Light.
City staff, including Schulte, should have involved the entire council in the Cordish talks a year ago. Confusion over taxpayer subsidies and affordable housing might have been avoided.
Benjamin is also correct that the definition of “affordable” housing is murky. That must be fixed this year — indeed, the council should take this opportunity to develop a transparent affordable-housing standard that can be applied to any proposed subsidy in the future.
At the same time, no one seriously believes rents in One Light and Two Light are truly affordable for moderate-income workers. A 600-square-foot apartment in Two Light goes for $1,320 a month, or about $2.20 a square foot. That would stretch the budget of someone making $45,000 a year.
(By the way, Benjamin clarified an earlier statement: While commercial space at Two Light is fully leased, apartments are still available.)
Council members now objecting to the Three Light subsidies came to the issue later than some might have wished. But they still had every right to make their concerns known before signing the check.
We’re absolutely confident that pressure from Shields and fellow Councilwoman Alissia Canady forced Cordish and City Hall to renegotiate terms of the deal for Three Light, and for future high-rise units, if there are any. Those negotiations will result in a better agreement.
We are not against Cordish, or Three Light. Downtown is a better place for the improvements at the Power and Light District, and surrounding properties. If Cordish or any company wants to build downtown, using their own money, they are quite free to do so — and welcome.
But taxpayers have poured millions into those projects and are now being asked to spend millions more. Their representatives are right to ask questions, and to insist on the best deal for every Kansas Citian.
This story was originally published March 20, 2018 at 4:08 PM with the headline "Spending tax dollars on downtown luxury apartment project is a problem."