City, PartnerTulsa Release Tulsa Housing Strategy
The City of Tulsa and PartnerTulsa have released the Tulsa Housing Strategy, a roadmap for how Tulsa can meet current and future housing demand as identified by the 2023 Citywide Housing Assessment.
“As we work to create a path to home for those who need it, it’s important that we understand how we got here and what key pieces we need to have in place to meet our housing needs over the next decade,” Mayor G.T. Bynum said. “I am thankful for PartnerTulsa, the Anne and Henry Zarrow Foundation, and so many others who put the time and effort into creating the plan we need to meet our community’s growing needs.”
PartnerTulsa, with support from The Anne and Henry Zarrow Foundation, partnered with Development Strategies to craft a framework to guide key housing partners and promote strategies proven to drive housing development.
“Tulsa’s economic growth and the success of economic development efforts are directly tied to our ability to address the city’s current and future housing needs,” PartnerTulsa Executive Director Kian Kamas said. “This Strategy provides a critical map for how we must collectively narrow our focus and direct resources to support housing development. Implementation of the Strategy will require the buy-in and financial support of leaders in the public, private, and philanthropic sectors, and we look forward to leading and supporting the collaboration that will be required for long-term success.”
“The Anne and Henry Zarrow Foundation was pleased to support the Housing Assessment and now this important strategy to accomplish the goal of adding 12,900 units of housing in the City of Tulsa over the next 10 years. Going forward, it will be important to work the plan and we are glad to be a continuing part of this effort” said Bill Major, President of the Foundation.
4 Key Strategies
The Tulsa Housing Strategy was developed with input from developers, philanthropists, neighborhood stakeholders and social service providers, and will be implemented via public-private partnerships.
1. Increase funding
- Secure private and public funds for housing development through grants, loans and other investment tools
- Provide rental assistance to reduce evictions and support working Tulsans
- Improve resources for landlords renting to low-income Tulsans
2. Facilitate development
- Regularly map and proactively acquire priority sites to support housing development across the city
- Establish a “pre-approved plans” program to help developers build homes faster and more efficiently, regardless of housing type
- Establish and fund City of Tulsa staff positions dedicated to greenlighting housing projects more quickly
3. Prioritize housing development in downtown Tulsa and commercial areas
- Identify and acquire a legacy commercial site that can be transitioned to housing
- Convert underutilized downtown office buildings to quality, affordable housing
- Prioritize neighborhood support and resident engagement to expedite development
4. Improve processes and policies
- Form a community-wide coalition to advocate for housing development and policy changes
- Streamline key City processes and regulations to support and expedite housing development
- Establish a City program that prioritizes affordable housing projects and expedites the pathway and timeline for successful development
Next Steps
- Form a Strategy Implementation Working Group to define and align roles and set timelines for implementing key actions
- Develop an organizational structure for leading housing finance initiatives
- Deploy public funding approved through the Improve Our Tulsa package in alignment with national best practices
- Secure public, private and philanthropic commitments required to successfully implement the Tulsa Housing Strategy
Implementation Actions Underway
- Twenty-million-dollars in previously allocated public funds is supporting housing development across the city in 2024.
- The Downtown Tulsa Partnership (DTP) and PartnerTulsa are analyzing office buildings to determine which are best-suited for conversion to housing.
- Work is underway to identify funding for additional staff to support and expedite housing development.
- Plans are underway for the development of pre-approved housing plans to expedite the process and reduce costs associated with building housing.
- PartnerTulsa is now partnering with private developers to support housing development on publicly-owned sites. For more information on available sites, visit https://partnertulsa.org/current-opportunities/available-properties/.
The Tulsa Housing Strategy is a key component of the newly released Housing, Homelessness, and Mental Health (3H) Task Force recommendations that fall under the City’s Path to Home initiative – a comprehensive set of action steps, programs and resources to address homelessness at the intersection of housing and mental health.
ABOUT PATH TO HOME:
The Path to Home Initiative is a central source for all programming as it relates to homelessness, housing, and mental health within the City of Tulsa. The initiative gives a comprehensive overview of all programming and policy work at the local government level focused on helping individuals experiencing homelessness or struggling with mental health, promoting citywide housing efforts, and supporting the work of dedicated service providers. To learn more about the Path to Home Initiative, visit: www.cityoftulsa.org/pathtohome
ABOUT PARTNERTULSA:
PartnerTulsa is the City of Tulsa’s economic development Authority that streamlines and strengthens Tulsa’s economic development efforts through the merging of the Mayor’s Office of Economic Development (MOED), Tulsa Industrial Authority (TIA), Tulsa Parking Authority (TPA), and Economic Development Commission (EDC) into a single, enhanced Public Trust. Partner Tulsa (aka TAEO) is governed by a thirteen (13) member Board of Trustees and provides staffing for and oversees the operations of the Tulsa Development Authority (TDA). For more information about PartnerTulsa or the Tulsa Housing Strategy, visit www.PartnerTulsa.org.