Nearly 13,000 housing units are needed over the next 10 years to meet demand and support equitable growth for Tulsans.

That was the message conveyed Monday by PartnerTulsa Executive Director Kian Kamas.

Alongside Casey Stowe, PartnerTulsa’s senior vice president of finance and real estate, and the Zarrow Family Foundations’ Bill Major, Kamas previewed the Tulsa Housing Strategy during the March meeting of the Tulsa Regional Chamber’s Executive Committee.

The strategic discussion was moderated by Justin McLaughlin, executive vice president and chief operating officer for the Chamber.

“What we have seen over the past couple of years, in particular as we have worked really major economic development projects, is that housing is an economic driver,” Kamas said. “If you’re not thinking about and being proactive about investing in housing, you will find yourself caught off guard and be unable to meet the needs to those prospective and current employers, as well as doing a disservice to those in your community who are most disadvantaged.”

The slight majority of Tulsa’s 10-year demand is for rental units (6,900), with the number for homes at 6,100. The existing total demand stands at about 4,000, according to PartnerTulsa, the City of Tulsa’s economic development organization.

A failure to acknowledge and respond to the role housing plays in Tulsa’s economic development strategy places future growth at risk and increases potential for adverse impacts, Kamas said.

The housing strategy, to be released publicly in mid-April, is intended to provide a clear framework to guide the investments and actions of key housing partners.

Among other things, the city wants to take a more aggressive approach to facilitating development, expanding efforts to transition vacant office buildings downtown to housing and acquiring legacy commercial sites that can be transformed into housing.

The municipality also wants to augment staffing dedicated to housing, improve processes and policy, and formalize advocacy efforts to develop a consistent narrative supporting housing development. A fiscal year 2025 budget request for two permanent housing coordinator positions already has been submitted.

“How do we think about how we can be proactive in identifying the areas of the city where housing development makes sense, where it’s aligned with the natural infrastructure that is there and with the type of development that is in that area?” Kamas said. “How can we take advantage of the opportunity for density?”

Kamas emphasized the importance of discussing opportunities sooner rather than later.

“Whenever you are working a major economic development project, the sooner you can start talking to key decision-makers, the better,” she said. “We have to start doing that for housing projects, as well, but we also need to make sure there is a coalition of people who really understand how critical housing development is.”

All of these steps, however, will take money – and lots of it, Kamas said.

The city has committed $75 million toward the effort through Improve Our Tulsa 3, the capital improvements package approved by municipal voters in August. But several hundred million more dollars are needed, Kamas said.

“As we looked across the country at how other cities are approaching this problem in an innovative fashion, they are really looking at these public, private partnerships that leverage public investment,” she said. “…I can say without any doubt in my mind that absent additional investment and leverage and partnership from the business community, we won’t solve our problems. That’s just the bottom line.”