Partnership on modular homes aims to bring more affordable housing to Wichita

Wichita Affordable Housing LLC, a social impact fund, is working with Rev. Dr. Kevass J Harding and Hope Community Development Corporation, and Prime Craftsman Homes out of Oklahoma to build high quality affordable homes in the Wichita area. 

By: Maleah Evans/Wichita Journalism Collaborative

“Our landlord, he’s able to work with us, that way my kids can have a place of their own,” Juan Horn said. “It means a lot to have a home of our own … to be able to say that we have a home and this is ours.”

Having a stable roof over his head has changed the life of Horn for the better. And the lives of his family members.

He and his children were living in a homeless shelter when the shelter told him about new modular homes being made available to renters in north-central Wichita.

Now, they’re living situation has improved tremendously. 

The house that Horn calls home as a tenant was made possible by a partnership.

Wichita Affordable Housing LLC, a social impact fund, is working with Rev. Dr. Kevass J Harding and Hope Community Development Corporation, and Prime Craftsman Homes out of Oklahoma to build high quality affordable homes in the Wichita area. 

The fund was created in 2024 by Steve Feilmeier, who used to work for Koch Industries and his son, Derek Feilmeier.

In the year that the organization has been operating, they have raised about $15 million though local banks and individuals that have high net worths in the Wichita area. 

“Our main thing is partnering with local non-profits to build new houses and make it really cheap for them, so we can just add as much supply to the market as we can,” Derek said. 

One of these non-profits is Hope CDC, run by Harding who borrows money from Wichita Affordable Housing, and uses the money to buy vacant lots. 

“Wichita Affordable Housing is my private bank … It’s a great partnership,” Harding said. “(Steve Feilmeier) is that resource I need as a small non-profit (to) grow my nonprofit to the place where I have my own equity to buy my own stuff without even borrowing cash. But right now, he’s helping me grow our nonprofit business portfolio.” 

In November, the organizations held a block party at 1432 N Estelle St to unveil new modular homes for prospective renters to come and tour the homes, which ranged from a four-bedroom duplex to a two-bedroom single family home.

The lots that the homes were placed on were bought by HopeCDC, and the modular homes were bought by Steve Feilmeier and Wichita Affordable Housing LLC. The modular homes were built offsite in Oklahoma and transplanted to a plot of land, then placed on permanent foundations. 

Harding said that Steve Feilmeier has also donated to Hope CDC to assist with gap funding.

“Part of my vision is … as I buy more land to build new communities, I would then buy these modular homes from Prime Craftsman and we could create more affordable houses throughout our city,” Harding said. “There’s so many other places that need affordable housing.”

Traditional home-building construction, such as stick build, keeps getting more and more expensive, Harding said. 

“I want to do 200, 300 affordable houses in the next three years or more, and I think modular homes (are) one way to help us achieve this goal of eradicating homelessness.”

Modular homes are generally cheaper than homes built piece-by-piece due to a decrease in labor costs. Since they are built in a factory to precision on a line, the labor is cheaper than construction costs of a stick built house. 

Each home comes fully furnished, with appliances and in unit washer and dryer, and often cost less to buy than regular homes. 

Each unit also comes with air conditioning, and the utility bills run $60-70 monthly. The homes are completely customizable. If a prospective tenant needed a shower instead of a bath, the company would change it. 

Harding said he bases the rent on HUD housing documents and the Wichita Housing Authority 2025 payment standard for the Housing Voucher Choice program.

That allows him to charge rates that would be affordable for that specific area. And he can work with tenants to lower their rents when charges prove too steep for their budgets.  

For instance, if a Section 8 renter can’t afford to heat their home at their initial rent target, then “I can bring that number down,” Harding said. 

Derek Feilmeier said that though these units are only for rent, they are working on developing a rent-to-own path for the homes. 

“It’s a little bit tricky (financially), but absolutely, we’re working on that,” he said. “We think that homeownership is really important.” 

This set of homes is the first modular homes that the organization has brought into Wichita, and they were brought in as a test to see the costs of bringing modular homes to Wichita and to see what would need to be done for them to be placed in certain areas. 

“This is just proof of concept,” Feilmeier said. “We’re hoping local politicians, nonprofit leaders, local business owners they come and look at these homes and they say ‘these manufactured homes are just as good as stick built.’’ 

Harding said that he believes that modular homes is one way that achieving his goal of eradicating homelessness will become more tangible and possible. 

“How do we actually change our whole neighborhood? It starts with housing,” he said. “When you have a place to live and call your own, or even if you’re leasing, it’s safe, it’s affordable … you have security.”

Harding said that housing is an issue that he’s seen since the late 1990s and early 2000s. 

“It’s not something I just woke up and wanted to do,” he said. “I’ve been seeing the need since the 90s … I got my (doctorate) in community development and that’s when it kicked off.”

Maleah Evans is the Spring Semester intern for the Wichita Journalism Collaborative. Maleah is a senior at Wichita State University and a member of The Sunflower staff.