By Brandon Peoples Apr 15, 2025
A “workforce housing” project in northwest Manhattan is one step closer to becoming a reality.
City commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved a resolution of intent to establish a Reinvestment Housing Incentive District (RHID) on Little Kitten Avenue, setting the stage for a May 20 public hearing.
Frontier Development is looking to construct 26 new duplexes, at a total cost of around $9 million.
Gavin Schmidt with BHS Construction commented at the meeting.
“The homes that we’re targeting are for young families, potentially young couples or potentially empty-nesters,” he said. “What we’re looking to build is a product that’s like a three-bedroom, two-bath home, about 1,500 square feet.”
The project will target buyers within 60 to 150 percent of the area median income ($58,441 in 2023, according to U.S. Census data). The target sale price would be $318,000 per unit.
The Kansas Housing Resources Corporation announced in February that it had awarded Frontier Development a $650,000 Moderate Income Housing grant and a $1.2 million Kansas Housing Investor Tax Credit for the project.
Schmidt said developers are also seeking just under $2 million in tax incentives through the proposed RHID for 15 years to help cover some of its infrastructure costs.
“The target is about a 10 to 11% return on investment,” he said. “We have to protect ourselves. The last thing we want to do is have prices run away from us, and we’re stuck in this position where we’ve made promises to our constituents and all these governing bodies and our costs are out of control. We can’t do that.”
RHIDs function similarly to tax increment financing (TIF) districts, setting a base year tax valuation, with all assessed tax on any increased value returned to a developer for reimbursement of some infrastructure development costs.
Commissioners also discussed hosting a joint meeting with USD 383 and Riley County, separate from the upcoming public hearing, to gather feedback.
Commissioner Susan Adamchak said it could show the city acting in good faith, specifically with the county, as future RHID projects are considered.
“I would prefer not to have angst and uncertainty as each one is going forward,” she said. “If we can come to some agreement with the county about their support, either through tacitly allowing it to move forward or by actively endorsing it.”
Commissioner Peter Oppelt cautioned against any such meeting, fearing it could delay the project.
“If the school district is signaling that they’re supportive of it, does the county want to be the ones to probably kill this housing project and fill some vacant land that we’ve had for two decades?”
The public hearing will take place on May 20. If commissioners finalize a RHID ordinance at their June 3 meeting, that would trigger a 30-day veto period for Riley County and USD 383.
In other business Tuesday, commissioners approved on first reading requests to annex and rezone a tract of land owned by Ward and Brenda Morgan in the Miller Ranch area of Manhattan.
The annexation request would accommodate future construction of single-family housing on Joseph Drive. The rezoning request is for a barn the Morgans are constructing to be served by city water and sewer.
Commissioners also agreed to pull an item from the consent agenda related to a proposed parking ordinance requested by USD 383.
The ordinance would create no-parking zones along the east side of Ninth Street and west side of 10th Street, between Poyntz Avenue and Pierre Street around the Lincoln Education Center.
Concerned neighbors spoke during public comment about how this would create a burden, as some homes already lack adequate street parking or driveways.
The commission agreed to continue the item to May 6, to allow city staff to work on an alternative solution with the school district.
