Kansas City, MO — April 23, 2026--The Kansas City Council passed Resolution 260362, sponsored by Councilmember Melissa Patterson Hazley, directing the City Manager to establish a pilot program utilizing the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Section 108 Loan Guarantee Program.
The proposed pilot program is designed to unlock new financing capacity to address some of Kansas City’s most persistent challenges: long-term vacancy, underutilized land, and chronic blight. By leveraging future Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds as security, the City can access larger-scale capital to support economic development, housing rehabilitation, and community-focused infrastructure projects that would otherwise be out of reach.
“This move allows us to take a smarter, more proactive, and more aggressive approach to tackling properties that have sat vacant for a decade or more,” said Councilmember Patterson Hazley. “We have thousands of lots across Kansas City that continue to drag down neighborhoods. This tool gives us the ability to move more at the scale required to eliminate that blight and replace it with opportunity.”
The pilot program will focus on City-owned properties, including those held by the Land Bank and Homestead Authority, with an emphasis on parcels that have remained vacant for at least 10 years. Eligible uses include economic development projects, housing initiatives, and quasi-public facilities that serve mixed-income communities and align with the City’s broader goals, including the Vacant Land Activation Initiative.
Under the resolution, the City Manager is directed to:
- Establish a Section 108 loan pilot program targeting long-term vacancy and blight
- Develop clear eligibility criteria and a process for project selection
- Identify a responsible funding structure that minimizes risk to the City’s general fund
- Return to the City Council within 60 days with recommendations for implementation
“Section 108 is one of the most underutilized tools available to cities,” Patterson Hazley said. “This strategic tool will allow us to think bigger, act faster, and deliver results that residents can see and feel.”
The resolution represents another step in Councilmember Patterson Hazley’s broader strategy to transform vacant and underutilized land into productive, community-centered spaces, building on ongoing efforts like the Housing Accelerator and the Vacant Land Activation Initiative.