In Northeast Kansas City, Missouri, one working-class neighborhood is using a multi-pronged approach to take control of its housing supply.

Since 2018, the Lykins Neighborhood Association has been taking on ambitious projects including using a state law to take control of abandoned homes, establishing a mixed-income neighborhood trust and partnering with Habitat for Humanity to construct 15-20 new houses. Their goal: enhancing the neighborhood’s livability, not maximizing property values.

As one of the most diverse sections of Kansas City, the Lykins neighborhood wants to revitalize its housing stock while preserving its blue-collar heritage, says Gregg Lombardi, executive director of nonprofit law firm Neighborhood Legal Support of Kansas City.

“There are a fair number of neighborhoods that are just trying to gentrify as fast as they can,” Lombardi says. “Lykins is not like that.”

That means dealing with abandoned and dilapidated buildings. Lykins renter Fai Beal, who is a member of the neighborhood association’s development board, says absent landlords who defer maintenance are a real problem in Lykins and across the city.

In 2021, the Kansas City Beacon reported that Lykins — which has a majority non-white population and a median income of about $24,000 — had the third-highest concentration of properties on the city’s “dangerous building list.”

But after eight years of resident-led efforts, Beal says it’s now difficult to find abandoned properties to renovate in Lykins. In the past, the neighborhood association has even offered a $100 reward for members who spot properties to rehab through Missouri’s Abandoned Housing Act.

“It’s just a way of helping keep members engaged and watching and eyes on the streets,” she says. “And also a way of helping hold slum lords accountable, because they know we’re out there watching and we’re not just letting houses sit around empty.”

Rehabbing Abandoned Homes

Under the Missouri Abandoned Housing Act, a nonprofit organization can file a lawsuit to take control of a home that has delinquent code violations and has not been legally occupied for at least six months.

After a suit is filed, the owner can renovate the property or pay for the nonprofit to do so. If the owner refuses to pay for renovations, the court can effectively give the property to the nonprofit to rehabilitate. Based on his experience overseeing cases for the past three decades, Lombardi estimates the policy has been used to restore around a thousand homes across Kansas City.

Read the full article about the Lykins Neighborhood Association in Kansas City by Hope Davis at Next City.