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The Ulysses City Council on August 28 heard a proposal for a new housing development for a plot of land off South Main Street that the city has been trying to develop for quite some time. Edgar Ortuno from OC Quality Custom Homes out of Liberal made a presentation to the council for the one square block parcel of land bordered by East Miller Avenue, South Glenn Street and East McDowell Avenue.
Ortuno believes the company can put eight homes on the lot and will be doing a market analysis to determine how many homes would eventually be built on the land. Before the analysis, the estimated average home size would be 1,300 square feet plus basement and garage with the smallest home being $240,000.
Ortuno said a colleague alerted them to this land in Ulysses, even though they have primarily focused on developments in Liberal.
“We are seeking opportunities to expand,” Ortuno said. “We’re very curious and want to help Ulysses out.”
OC Quality Custom Homes recently broke ground on a 47-home development in Liberal and is building an apartment community in Garden City, as well as a new truck driving school at Seward County Community College.
“Our team is always going to try to work local, work within these smaller, rural communities,” Ortuno said. “That’s one of our main focuses to help guide these communities to develop to whatever needs they may have. Even though right now there’s a huge housing crisis, we feel that we have a responsibility to help encourage and find various solutions.”
OC Custom Homes has a designer and builder in-house which is sustainable and cost-effective, and realistic when it comes to designing and building the homes, Ortuno added. The company would sub-contract for HVAC, electric and plumbing, and currently purchases materials from a supplier in Hooker, Oklahoma.
“We always want to focus on a couple things, making sure that everything is affordable within the community, and obviously being realistic to the cost of construction nowadays,” Ortuno said.
Upon approval of the plan for Ulysses, Ortuno expects to have the homes built within 18 months, a potential mix of single-family homes or townhomes depending on income levels.
“We want to build homes that are appropriate fore each stage of life,” Ortuno said.
OC Quality Custom Homes wants to purchase the property for $5,000 and proposed a $9,500 incentive upon completion of each home and 50% realtor’s commission.
“All of this is really trying to minimize financial barriers for homebuyers,” Ortuno said.
The $5,000 offer is what city tentatively approved May 8 from Jesus Estrella, who offered $5,000 for the land to build a similar development but it was not a commitment from the city to go through with the deal, just what the price of the lot would be if the city entered into a contract with Estrella.
“He basically nixed that project,” said city administrator Luke Grimes, who added the Estrella decided he wants to build apartments. “He’s reworking his plan from the ground up.”
Grimes recommended the council give Estrella a chance to present his plan. Councilman Ken Warner wondered if the council should set a deadline for proposals to be brought before the council.
The plans are contingent upon having a Reinvestment Housing Incentive District in place. RHID is a program designed to aid developers in building housing within communities by assisting in the financing of public infrastructure improvements. RHID captures the incremental increase in real property taxes created by a housing development project for up to 25 years. The revenue can be used for reimbursement for incurred costs or to pay debt service on bonds, according to the Kansas Department of Commerce.
OC Quality Custom Homes was the first to be awarded an RHID project in Liberal.
“Going through the RHID program, we can add things, for example, exterior improvements, the yard, the driveway, the fencing, the sprinkler system, the infrastructure utilities” Ortuno said. “We can already include that in the RHID so that way we can help the homeowner or the home buyer not have that cost.”
The company has the capital in place to start building the homes, so a buyer would not need to be in place.
“It’s a turnkey deal (the city) put $9,500 and you’re gonna build the house,” said councilman Mark Diaz. “As long as we sell the property for $5,000.”
With Ortuno’s proposal and Estrella reworking his plans, Warner wondered how much longer the city would have to wait.
“Are we gonna wait six months to take offers or do we need to look at two months from now part of our agenda will be discussing options that are out there?” Warner asked. “Or do we just sit here and wait for them to come in whenever they want to bring them in?”
Diaz said there’s finally something positive here saying if there’s an RHID in place they would consider coming to Ulysses. Ortuno said they would help the city through the RHID process and it doesn’t necessarily have to be in place already.
The council decided to consider Ortuno’s proposal and any others received at its October 8 meeting, which is a Tuesday meeting because many council members will be attending the League of Kansas Municipalities conference in Wichita.
Warner said that gives anyone interested in the land to get their proposals together in September.
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