KC nonprofit helps bring attainable homeownership to this East Side neighborhood

Four students from The Hope Center KC were on hand Monday to help break ground for Hope Village, a 21-home development that will bring “attainable homeownership opportunities” to working families.

Thirteen-year-old Nyah Miller was one of the students. She’s been a part of The Hope Center, a community and youth development nonprofit, since pre-K. She said she is frequently invited to events like this one to show her support, and had fun being part of the ceremony.

“It makes me feel like I’m doing something important,” she said.

The housing development, at 3216 Chestnut Ave., will create nine single-family homes and six duplexes over the course of 36-months. The Hope Center KC is spearheading the project alongside multiple community organizations.

The project s supported by more than $1.9 million through the Central City Economic Development Sales Tax program, and the homes will help families earning between 80% and 120% of area median income.

“What that means is we’ve taken public dollars, we’re buying down the cost of the development, and then we’re going to make sure families can get in at 80% median income, which means they will come in day one with upwards of $50,000 in equity,” Marvin Lyman, CEO of Sankofa EDG, said.

Who’s leading the project?

Sankofa EDG is a real estate development and consulting firm helping lead the Hope Village project. In addition to Sankofa EDG, The Hope Center KC is partnering with the Central City Economic Development Sales Tax program, Murrell Homes Real Estate Group, Bell Bank, CHES, Inc., Pathway Financial Education and the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB).

Marvin Daniels, CEO of The Hope Center KC, was elated with the turnout at the groundbreaking ceremony.

“Our goal is … to make an investment, to bring a community, that once again, reclaim the middle class community here on the East Side, that can continue to empower the businesses that are taking place, as well as being able to sustain families,” he told The Star.

The Hope Center KC has been investing in the community for 28 years, creating a family healthcare center, a community garden, elementary school and event venue.

Before the groundbreaking, visitors were seated under a tent as project leaders gave short speeches about the initiative. Gift bags and water bottlers were provided to guests, and additional refreshments were offered at Hope Center’s nearby event venue, The Gathering.

The next steps for Hope Village and East Side

From finding developers to gathering funds, Daniels said he’s excited to see the 2018 idea come to fruition.

“Now to see it materializing is not only an honor, but a blessing for us, and then it will be transformative to this community,” he said.

The project still needs land surveying work and pre-development, but Daniels hopes construction on the first home will begin before December.

Melissa Patterson Hazley, Kansas City Councilmember for the 3rd District at Large, spoke at the ceremony to highlight the need to improve vacant lots in District 3 and East Side. Patterson Hazley said there are over 3,000 vacant parcels in the district.

“The problem is we have had a culture of demolition in Kansas City,” Patterson Hazley said at the ceremony. “A lot of times we took things down, and we did it in such an irresponsible way that it makes it incredibly difficult to develop later.”

Patterson Hazley said removing these parcels is one of her priorities, and she said the city has a “responsibility to lead the environmental remediation” of these lots. The councilmember said she’s raised over $10 million for clean-up projects across the district, and is grateful to the Hope Village team for finding ways to repurpose the land.

“We’re going to solve this problem come hell or high water,” Patterson Hazley said.

Lyman, the Sankofa EDG CEO, said he hopes Hope Village’s impact goes beyond the housing development.

“It becomes the model by which we actually do holistic development, empowering families and empowering the East Side of Kansas City,” he said at the ceremony.

Community response to the initiative

Lyman especially hopes to gain additional funds for neighbors with decaying property and to improve other property in the neighborhoods.

“It’s not just enough, just to build new houses, but we have to help care for those who have invested over the years and stayed here, but haven’t been able to get loans to improve their homes,” he told The Star.

Lyman and Daniels have been working together since the beginning to plan the development. Lyman said the community response to the initiative has been incredibly special.

“I had to stop myself from crying tears of joy as I looked out and felt the energy of the people and how excited everybody is,” Lyman said.