City Of Tulsa To Use $75 Million For New Affordable Housing Developments

The City of Tulsa wants to add thousands of units of affordable housing to the region in the next several years to meet the need and get people into homes.

Voters passed more 'Improve Our Tulsa' funding last year, and now the city is setting aside $75 million for housing projects and programs.

With rising rent costs and homelessness at the top of mind for Tulsans, the city is taking a big step toward making more affordable housing a reality.

“$75 million is a game changer for the City of Tulsa, and as a community, we recognize there's a huge need in housing across this city," said Travis Hulse, the City Housing Policy Director. 

The $75 million 'Improve Our Tulsa' sales tax dollars will primarily go toward developing housing, acquiring sites around town, and revitalizing vacant homes.

The city's 10-year goal is to add nearly 13,000 units. 

“Anything we can do to add more units is going to help with overall affordability of housing for folks, so we’re excited for that," Hulse said.

Mack Haltom with the Tulsa Day Center said rising home costs and lack of affordable housing is the biggest cause of homelessness.

"People are becoming homeless because they can't pay rent, and it's getting too high," Haltom said. 

He is thankful the city is making this plan to work with developers and get these units built.

The Day Center is also doing a pilot program in which the highest-need homeless people will be able to live in hotels temporarily, receive mental or substance abuse help, and then apply for home vouchers.

"The Tulsa Housing Authority is partnering with us, and providing 50 vouchers for two years," Haltom said. 

All these efforts have the same goal: to get everyone off the streets. The money will be available as soon as next year, so the city hopes to begin seeing these homes and apartments built quickly.

The City of Tulsa and the City Lights Foundation are also working to open and operate a 55-unit low barrier shelter to get homeless people in need, to provide even more temporary help and housing for homeless people in need.

More information can be found here.