Emporia study reveals lack of available housing

Incoming business may increase demand.

Special to The Capital-Journal

EMPORIA -- The city of Emporia has a potential demand for an additional 740 living units -- 315 owner-occupied units and 425 rental units, according to a study of Lyon County housing. The study, which was conducted by a community planning and research consultant and released to the city commission in the spring, showed the city has a housing vacancy deficiency of 3.6 percent. Experts say a "good" vacancy rate for the housing market of a rural area is 5 percent of existing housing. "Emporia does not have enough vacant housing properties," said Steve Commons, city manager. "People are indicating that when moving to the community, they have a hard time finding housing in the price range they can afford," said Patty Gilligan, human relation coordinator for the city. Larry Ek, the president of Ek Real Estate, agreed. "Absolutely," Ek said. "We have limited selection of housing in Emporia," especially homes in the $50,000 to $100,000 price range. A Caterpillar plant to be built in Emporia will employ about 100 people -- 30 percent of whom will be new to the community. "That would be 30 new houses (that) need to be ready to be occupied," Gilligan said. Commons said the low vacancy rate could hurt business development. The city may create a community housing development organization to attract federal grants to address the problem. In addition, Commons said, Emporia will continue to work with the Neighborhood Revitalization Program it adopted two years ago. That program, among other things, seeks grant money to be used for housing rehabilitation projects.

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