Oklahoma City lays out a $130 million plan to build or fix about 50,000 homes in 10 years

OKLAHOMA CITY (Nov. 12) — Oklahoma City has its first citywide plan for housing, and it comes with a price tag of about $130 million over the next decade.

The city's planning department presented the strategy at Tuesday's City Council meeting. The goal is to work with builders and other partners on 4,000 new homes a year while preserving or repairing 1,000 existing ones, about 50,000 homes over 10 years across a range of types and incomes, KOSU reported.

The money would come from a mix of grants, bonds and MAPS 4 dollars, KOCO reported. The plan also sets aside $25 million to redevelop Will Rogers Court, a community that has stood for nearly 100 years.

The numbers behind it are stark. About 77,000 Oklahoma City households are cost-burdened, meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on housing, and the city's eviction rate in 2024 ran 7% above the national average, according to the plan. The city is also projected to hit 1 million residents by 2055, adding about 280,000 people, and planners say limited room for new roads means more homes will need to go near public transit.

"What we need most is one-to-two-bedroom units, starter homes, ADUs," said Shannon Entz, the city's housing strategy implementation manager, referring to accessory dwelling units like backyard cottages. "Affordable housing does not mean cheap housing. This needs to be housing that lasts generations."

The Oklahoman reported that one council member described the push as an effort to head off a looming housing crisis driven by the city's growth.