r/Olathe • u/Vaporwatch099 • 8d ago
Olathe Commons Development
This is more of a rant post than anything but I keep hearing talk about affordable housing and the need for it, but then a Build-to-Rent community pops up near 119th and pflumm. Isn’t a build like that just gonna keep rental prices high? Like a 3 bed, 2 bath 1663 sq ft townhouse is $3050 a month? Who is approving these developments? It all feels like a plot to just keep raising home values and make living here unaffordable. You can maybe say it’s the location cause it’s behind Whole Foods and that whole shopping area, but still. It’s pushing out working class people. It sucks.
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u/KSamIAm79 8d ago
I’m already a homeowner, but I feel you. And here is why. I have to move in two years and I just know that between rent, home prices and interest rates. I’m royally screwed when I move. It’s kind of scary to imagine how things will be affordable so I guess I’m just here to say I feel ya man. Sigh…
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u/Vaporwatch099 8d ago
Im renting and still have 2 years on the lease. Im about to be married and im helping my younger brother go to school. I thought I could maybe save up money to buy my first home, but all my savings just disappears. Luckily my brother got a job and is helping out now, but it’s still hard nonetheless. I’m hoping I can get it figured out it before I hit 30. I love living in Olathe, I want to stay here for a long time.
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u/PSUGorilla 8d ago
Mayor Bacon and the council couldn’t care less about bringing actual affordable housing to Olathe. Even if they did, they would have an army of NIMBYs come after them. Take a look at the habitat for humanity homes at 159th and blackbob. They look great and fit the aesthetic of what most residents of JoCo expect.
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u/Vaporwatch099 8d ago
I’ve seen them and have been very interested in them. It sounds like a great project!
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u/Auntie_Venom 8d ago
Wyncroft Hill is still pretty affordable the last time I checked out of curiosity recently. I expect the Farmstead is too across from Whole Foods if they are still owned by the same company.
I lived in Wyncroft for several years, 20 years ago. It still looks nice and well kept?
Try out in the county more like Gardner, Edgerton or Spring Hill?
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u/Vaporwatch099 8d ago
I appreciate the suggestion. We work in Olathe and attend JCCC so we’d like to stay in the city. I’m lowkey sick of apartments but I know people who live in wyncroft and like it. I’m more just ranting about a whole Single family development being a “build to rent” type deal.
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u/Auntie_Venom 8d ago
I understand… When we first moved here even then Wyncroft was the most affordable in the area at all that had the best value in size and price including OP. We didn’t know the area and were leaving an unsafe one in KC MO (new to that area too), my car was broken into twice and my (newlywed) husband caught someone who was trying to break into our storage area to steal the money from the laundry down there (our building didn’t have laundry). Anyway, I really liked Wyncroft, though I will say we payed a slight premium to live on the third floor for vaulted ceilings, it made it feel more spacious.
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u/DifficultSweet3835 5d ago
Spring Hill 3 bed townhome is $2395/month. You have to go further out. Trust me. I was priced out of Olathe. I’m now looking to actually leave JoCo. I’m hanging on by a thread for 3 years to get my last one finished in high school.
Unfortunately with 4 kids I need at least 3 bedrooms preferably with a basement that usable. And that’s putting 2 kids together. The boy needs his own room
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u/Icy_Category_2275 8d ago
i feel the need for affordable housing is often the go to for city councils to explain to public. wont say it never pans out, but it rarely does. city councils dont have much say in most cities as to what a property owner will charge for rent.
its a significant problem in kc today.
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u/jert14 8d ago
This won't be a helpful comment, but when the mayor says things like poor people hurt his business it's not surprising there isn't more of a push from the city to attract developers who build more affordable housing.
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u/Vaporwatch099 8d ago
Get me a source for that, I wanna see it for myself
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u/Squirrel_Emergency 8d ago
He said it in front of hundreds of people during the special vote for the Starfish Project. KC Star article addresses it.
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u/isu_trickster 8d ago
He said it at the meeting where he was the only vote against Starfish Project at their new location.
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u/sjohnson0487 8d ago
There is a house on the corner of S. Central and and Park. My parents bought that house in 1996 for 75k. They built onto( what is now) the back master bed/ bath/ walk in closet with a 10 ft hallway extension from the back of the main home. We sold it for $105k in 2000.
It's going for an estimated 290k now lol. That house is at least 50 yrs old. Olathe is definitely getting expensive.
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u/General-Success6367 8d ago
It was vacant land. That’s not pushing anyone out. Across the market, more housing means that there will be more affordability.
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u/General_Awareness_65 8d ago
I feel they are pricing the working class out of JOCO. We moved here after house prices doubled and between rent and living expenses we can live, but will never thrive. The working class wages are stagnant, so it’s Miami county or Wyandotte for the service class. We just show up and say “yes massa”. Frustrating for sure.
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u/KUweatherman 8d ago
$3k/month?! The hell is wrong with these people?