MARC Board of Directors Meeting (May 26, 2026)

By Lynne Hermansen, Kansas City Documenter

See more about this meeting at Documenters.org

Summary

• Municipal officials provided updates on preparations for the World Cup.
• Addressing future housing shortages in the current economic climate is a top priority, along with tackling financial needs for low-income residents through a regional housing fund.
• Board members unanimously approved an application for the USDOT 2026 Safe Streets and Roads for All program as part of the region’s Destination Safe Comprehensive Safety Action Plan.
• Board members unanimously approved the Greater Kansas City Regional Bikeway Plan.

Notes

Board Member Updates

• Board member updates on plans for the World Cup included watch parties, hosting teams, transportation accommodations and expectations that large numbers of fans were expected.
• Kansas City Councilman Johnathan Duncan said the streetcar running at capacity over the prior weekend with the KC Current game was a good preview for what they could expect for the World Cup.
• Leavenworth County is preparing a public transit ambassadors program to help visitors.
• Raymore Mayor Kristofer Turnbow said the city’s road projects would be delayed for 30 to 90 days because the contracted construction flaggers would be busy helping with the World Cup.

Other Notable Municipality Updates

• Grandview Mayor Leonard Jones said a ribbon cutting for the new Grandview Station would be held June 15. The space will host farmers markets and other events.
• Ray County Presiding Commissioner Sheila Tracy said two-thirds of the county’s bridges had been repaired.
• Overland Park City Councilmember Logan Heley said the free airport shuttle buses drop-off and ride service from the Overland Park Convention Center to Kansas City International Airport would start June 1. He said Prairie Village’s public pools’ twilight rates inspired Overland Park to do the same. He said the city’s contract for a solid waste study could save residents $250 a year.
• Independence City Councilmember Jackie Dorman said the community had celebrated the Independence Commons ribbon cutting earlier that month. The centralized hub brings city departments under one roof.
• Johnson County Commissioner Julie Brewer said the K-10/Highway 169/Lone Elm Corridor Study design and engineering phase was underway. A tight diamond interchange is planned at Lone Elm Road. Brewer also highlighted the newly remodeled De Soto and Spring Hill libraries. Spring Hill library reopened June 3.

Competitive Economy

• Area Housing Report
  • MARC’s Director of the Office of Economic Research Frank Lenk presented a Kansas City-area housing study that focused on historical context, current realities and possible solutions for the future housing crisis.
  • Lenk said Kansas City’s housing market had been shaped by a mix of public policies and private markets through the expansion of regional growth and relatively cheap land and housing. However, rising transportation costs had sometimes hindered housing growth.
  • Lenk said that historically Kansas City’s housing had been shaped by policy, especially racial policies known as redlining. In 2010, the area began to see reinvestment policies.
  • He cited a need to reinvest in older areas. Rising demand for different types of housing and a shrinking supply are major causes of the housing crisis. Lenk said the tightening of underwriting standards since the Great Recession had also made it harder for young adults to find homes.
  • Home values have risen twice as fast as median income, nearly to levels unseen since the Great Recession, Lenk said. And the housing gap is worse for low-income wage earners.
  • The region can look at accessory dwellings and ways to be more innovative through codes and funding mechanisms to help people find and afford homes, Lenk said.
  • Prairie Village Mayor Eric Mikkelson said Prairie Village was still figuring out their codes to help residents afford housing.
  • Johnson County Commissioner Janee Hanzlick said transportation costs should be included because transportation affects where a person finds a home.
• Regional Housing Fund
  • Board members heard a report on the establishment of a regional housing fund that will address limited access to low-cost capital for the construction and preservation of housing. 
  • The fund is expected to launch in the second half of this year.
  • The fund would be managed through an affiliate of the Local Initiatives Support Corp., which is headquartered in New York City. It has a local office here known as LISC Greater Kansas City, headed by Executive Director Geoff Jolley, who presented on the regional housing fund.
    • The fund is designed as a “flexible, low-cost source of capital to help close financing gaps in housing developments while supporting mixed-income and affordable housing goals.”
    • The plan is to “offer products such as acquisition loans, construction loans, preferred equity and other flexible financing tools that respond to developer needs.”
  • Jolley said that the fund will “impact” between 3,500 to 5,000 units of housing in the metro and that, with a goal of capitalizing the fund with $100 million, it would spur at least $300 million worth of development. 
  • The goal is to launch the fund when it reaches $40 million and continue fundraising toward the $100 million goal.
  • Many major local foundations have made funding commitments, Jolley said.
  • “We’ve got hundreds of millions of dollars in potential projects in and around the Kansas City metro across the nine counties,” Jolley said, “but one of the things that we would ask for your help is, as you hear about projects coming through your municipality, you know that you say, ‘Oh, they have some interest, and this might be a good fit for the regional housing fund.’ 
  • “Send them our direction and let us have a conversation, because oftentimes what we’re finding is even market rate developers who traditionally don’t do affordable housing can make it (work). When we start to walk through the numbers with them, they can make it pencil.”  

Agenda Report

• Grant Opportunity for Transit Safety
  • MARC is applying for $19.1 million in federal transportation funds and $4.8 million in matching funds from local partners, for a total of $23.9 million.
  • Bikeway Plan Update
    • Transportation planner Patrick Trouba said the analysis shows opportunities exist for updating the regional bikeway network. 
  • Open Data Portal
    • The open data portal launched for residents to find all resources through MARC in one spot would continue to evolve and grow, representatives said.
    • Johnson County Commissioner Becky Fast said the program was great but needed better search directions so the MARC portal is the first search result in the Google search engine.
  • MARC Office Move
    • The MARC offices are relocating for the first time in 40 years, to smaller space at 801 Pennsylvania, two blocks south of its current location. The current lease ends July 31.
  • Executive Director Search
    • The 10-member search committee looking for a new MARC executive director is “on track for the final recommendation in June,” Hanzlick said.

Executive Director’s Report

The solid waste proposal failed in the Missouri legislature. Work on the issue will continue through the summer.

Consent Agenda

Agenda passed with two abstentions.

Observations & Follow-Up Questions

• How will MARC handle the constant battle between older, established residents who oppose multifamily housing units built next to their homes and the rising demand for alternative, affordable housing?
• How will Kansas City make housing affordable and attract people to move into the area while also keeping the cost of living affordable for long-established residents?

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