On this episode of Banking on KC, Christina Fenwick, Director of Development for Driven Development, joins host Kelly Scanlon to discuss how the new Kansas City–based nonprofit is tackling the region’s affordable housing crisis with a unique blend of private-sector speed and nonprofit heart.
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Christina Fenwick Final Transcript
Kelly Scanlon: Welcome to Banking on KC. I'm your host, Kelly Scanlon. Thank you for joining us. With us on this episode is Christina Fenwick, a nonprofit housing leader and community development professional with more than a decade of experience in commercial real estate finance. She's currently director of Development for Driven Development, a new Kansas City based nonprofit focused on delivering affordable housing across the region.
Welcome, Christina.
Christina Fenwick: Thank you, Kelly. Glad to be here.
Kelly Scanlon: Sure. I always like to get behind the motivations of, of people, of organizations. So tell me about the driving force behind Launching Driven Development and what Gap in the affordable housing ecosystem are you trying to fill?
Christina Fenwick: I think the driving force really behind Driven Development is Dave Harrison, our president.
He has over 15 years of. Experience running Van Trust. He's very active in the community serving on community boards. And I think through all of that, he saw a gap between the affordable housing issue and all of the means to meet that issue. And so he, he's a doer. He gets really involved. He studies issues, and then he goes out and tries to become involved in them.
And I think that's exactly what he did here. You will hear the words urgency and the phrase no patience used when I've heard that phrase from him. Yeah. No patience. Yeah. And so I think you'll hear that when you hear driven development, and that is because of that, that gap that he saw. And there are a lot of organizations addressing affordable housing, but he wanted to be.
A part of that and really meet the need quickly. He's a big driving force. Obviously. There's a lot of of great organizations, like I said, addressing this work. You often see that they address a slice of it. You know, they're in single family new construction or single family renovation, or in brand new multifamily.
And we really would like to be the organization that spans that housing continuum is what we call it. And do everything from renovation to new build, uh, single family and multifamily so that you are really addressing housing. Able to move people and families through that continuum. Mm-hmm. And you're focused primarily, if not solely on construction, right?
That's correct, yeah. Construction and renovation, I should say, maybe a better way to say it is we are focused on the bricks and mortar and the supply side of the affordable housing issue.
Kelly Scanlon: You've recently broken ground, uh, signed letters of intent in several parts of Kansas City, including Johnson County and the Urban Core.
So what's the strategy behind, uh, such diverse location choices like this?
Christina Fenwick: Well driven development was formed to have a regional focus, so that kind of drives, you know, these, these locations are intentional. Uh, we're also very focused on working with municipalities that are ready to be collaborative. And that are serious about housing.
And so Johnson County sticks out as a leader in trying to address affordable housing and that they've made it very clear that this is important to them. So that was a natural fit. I think we are also looking at what we're calling areas of opportunity. So we want our housing to be close to schools, have access to public amenities, good transportation.
And economic mobility. Uh, we really feel that if you are in a mixed income neighborhood with opportunities to access that, that economic mobility, that those are gonna be the most successful. And so we're very intentional. About choosing locations that reflect that. Um, and then obviously right now we're rooted in Kansas City, but the idea is to take this national and so the scope will expand.
Uh, but right now we're focused on those areas in Kansas City. And to your point, there may be areas where people don't think there's an affordable housing need or a crisis. And, and there is. And so, um, you know, Johnson County has an extremely high average. Home price. And so there's absolutely a need for some level of deeper affordability there.
Sure. So that drives us as well.
Kelly Scanlon: Well, and in some communities too, I'm not speaking specifically of Kansas City, but there are some communities where you look at the incomes, the average income, and it seems really high, but there are a lot of services. That, uh, are required in those places and the people who provide those services would like to live in closer proximity perhaps than, uh, you know, several miles out from where they're performing their jobs.
Absolutely. And so you forget about that too.
Christina Fenwick: I'm glad you brought that up and said that because that is one of our main focuses, the phrase empowering people who power our communities. Yes. So think. Educators, healthcare workers, first responders, uh, nonprofit professionals, uh, public government, uh, you know, workers, um, people that are working in your local coffee shop, things like that.
Those people are often priced out of the very communities that they serve, and that is a big focus for us, is to be able to address housing at those price points. So that those people can live close to work so that they could maybe walk to the hospital that they work in or, you know, walk their kids to school and then also go teach there, those types of things.
Kelly Scanlon: Exactly. Now you mentioned that you might be going national eventually. I guess I should stop and ask you how long has driven development, uh, has, how long has it been since its launch?
Christina Fenwick: It has been. Like I said, I said Dave Harrison is a doer, but he also studies these issues. Right. And so the Van Trust team and Dave Harrison have put a lot of years into studying affordable housing, studying it in Kansas City, um, meeting with community leaders and stakeholders to to form this.
And it was just in December of 2020. Four that staff was brought on so that I joined the team and that my colleague, Emily Robinson, joined the driven development team. So seven months, seven, eight months. Uh, that driven has really had staff waking up every day, I guess dedicated to, to figuring this out and going out and doing things.
So still fairly new, still figuring things out and still building. So eight months on the ground,
Kelly Scanlon: but many, many years in the planning. Absolutely. Process. Yes. Okay. Speaking of, um. Work on the ground. You've described your work as a mission-driven real estate development. What does that look like on the ground and how does it differ from traditional nonprofit housing models and private sector developers?
Christina Fenwick: So I think we see it as taking. Maybe the discipline and the strategy of the private sector, traditional real estate developer, and meeting that with the heart and the community engagement of nonprofit. So, uh, we're trying to execute with urgency. Uh, we're trying to kind of bypass maybe some of the, the systems already in place.
It can take a really long time to. Obtain low income housing tax credits, right, which is generally the model used to address affordable housing. Um, it can, when you're following public funding cycles, things can slow down. And so I think we are trying to bring that, you know, quick to market, utilize the, the private developer, um, experience and expertise to go address that while.
Bringing that heart and that how do we engage with the community and, and really meet the needs of that specific neighborhood and kind of do all of that at once. So I think we're different from a, I guess a, a traditional for-profit developer in that profit is not our driving factor. Impact is, and I think that's what makes us different from traditional development.
Kelly Scanlon: So if you are not using some of the more traditional affordable housing funding models, where does the funding come from?
Christina Fenwick: We right now are fortunate that we have philanthropic backing that also sees the urgency in this. So we are leaning heavily on philanthropic backing, whether that is through grant funding or through, uh, philanthropic loans that maybe are more flexible or more friendly than your traditional loan structures.
Uh, the idea and hope too is that. Municipalities start to, there's some public investment in those as well, which may be more of a traditional model. Um, but trying to find ways to do things differently. And again, some of that is still being built and explored and we're still researching those things. You know, how do we ask cities, um, to play a role in this that is outside of tax abatement, which is again, kind of your go-to tool to make a project more feasible.
And so some of those things are still in the works. We are also looking for project partners that may have, whether they're providing labor or materials that have a, a mission side to their business, where, you know, they may be a plumbing company and they really want to give back to. The communities and provide plumbing fixtures for home path to home ownership, which is something that we're working on.
And so finding those partners that say, Hey, we're a for-profit business, but we see what you're doing and we'd like to play a role as well.
Kelly Scanlon: You've got a decade of experience in commercial real estate finance, you've seen a lot, uh, when it comes to real estate, uh, yourself. So from your perspective, what do you see as most broken in the current housing system and how is Driven development working to address it?
Christina Fenwick: The system is very fragmented. Uh, there's an urgent need. Housing affordability is. Typically described as a crisis, but the response can be very slow and siloed and very complex. In my financing background, you'd see affordable housing projects with a dozen different funding sources, and every single one of those funding sources maybe had a different timeline or different requirements and different implementation.
And so when you are working with systems that don't align. It slows things down. Uh, it makes it really hard to get projects out of the ground quickly. And it can stymie innovation too, right? We have to fit within this box. We have to fit within this timeline, and so I think Driven is trying to find ways to be nimble and kind of do something to the side of that.
I guess I should. Say that those systems work and, and we're not trying to completely dismantle those systems. We're trying to compliment them and do things in a different way.
Kelly Scanlon: You've talked a little bit about involving the community in your work. You've talked about perhaps a company that has a mission driven side that can come in and provide services or products that would be needed as you construct or renovate some of these properties.
But how, in a larger sense do you involve the community in shaping what, what affordable really means?
Christina Fenwick: Yeah, so just over six, seven months in, we are still getting engaged with neighborhoods and communities for sure. But we know that affordability looks different to every neighborhood, every community, every family, every individual.
Right? It's, it's very relative to your experience, um, and, and what you know, your life. And so I think we are working with communities to understand what does that mean? Does that mean. You know, a rental rate based on a fixed income. Does that mean wanting to own a home and build equity and plant roots in your community?
I think those, those mean different things for different people, but we're also looking past price points and wanna understand. The priorities and preferences of the communities and the families in those communities. So what is the price point in this community or what salaries are people making? We're doing a lot of research into actual salary data.
What can people actually afford? Uh, what are the motivations? Do you want to rent? Do you want to own what housing types? And so there's a lot of engaging with. Employers with community groups that just are kind of boots on the ground grassroots and know the folks that they serve or the, or the people in the neighborhoods that they are in and, and trying to kind of blend all of that together to say, this is what's affordable.
And then we also, I guess to add onto this, maybe a little bit of a tangent, but we are focused on the bricks and mortar. And so the idea is for us to really partner with other nonprofits that are. Excellent at the wrap services, you know, they can come in and help provide financial education or other types of things that a family or individual may need.
It makes it a more holistic approach, I guess. Yeah. We're helping put a roof over someone's head, which I think is a foundation and that stability so that someone. Can focus on what's next
Kelly Scanlon: When you talk about engaging with municipalities, with corporations and with neighborhoods, uh, and, and even with the people who may be moving into these homes, what their goals are.
You know, another really important point that sometimes stymies a project is the other people in the community itself. You know, they don't understand what affordable housing is. And sometimes that causes delays because, you know, they're. They want more answers or they have concerns. Yeah.
Christina Fenwick: So I think we have to run parallel paths and that's what we're doing now.
And again, just getting started, but this will be our model going forward, is there has to be deep community engagement while you are also doing some of these traditional commercial real estate things, right? You're going out and you're kind of looking at your land and figuring out your capital stack and doing some site drawings and configuration.
And preparing yourself for the entitlements process while having discussions with the community, and that could be a neighbor. We've had discussions with people that walk out of their front door in neighborhoods where we've built single family homes and we've had conversations with folks that just say, Hey, I hear you're maybe looking at this property.
And I live in the neighborhood. We've had conversations with neighborhood associations and you know, we've looked at. Neighborhood plans to see what, what is included in a neighborhood plan to kind of help inform those things. And so you run parallel paths. You have to be ready to address something when you're ready to move the dirt, but we know it's not sustainable to just go out.
Build a project, not get community buy-in, not understand what the community needs. And so all of those voices are very important. And we're talking to all of those people. And I wanna share this story because I think it's really important. We've had real conversations with community contributors, I guess I'll call them, um, in those healthcare.
First responder educators. We've had real conversations with a police officer that grew up in the urban core and serves on, you know, at KCPD, but had to move out of the urban core in order to afford something for a growing family, right? So now you know you live. 30, 45 minutes away from the community that you serve.
Um, that's a transportation cost. You know, we're focused on, that's why we would like to be close to transit. We're hearing from folks that work in Hospital Hill that they live 45 minutes away because downtown rents are unachievable. And so trying to really understand those types of things too, and to say, what, what, what are those salaries?
How do we put the right types of housing in the right areas to address those?
Kelly Scanlon: So how do you measure the impact of driven development beyond just the number of units that you build? I know you've focused a lot on the bricks and mortar, but how do you make go beyond that to measure your impact?
Christina Fenwick: We are focused on the supply side, right?
We are focused on bricks and mortar, but it's always more than the units. We're looking at units as. Families and individuals that, again, I think I said, kind of get that foundation and then they can focus on what's next. They have that stability and so, you know, it is a number of units, but I think we're always going to equate that with a family or an individual that now feels stable.
Um, and so we are partnering with, and we know that there are folks that are much better at. Those other things that can make this a holistic approach, that financial education or mental health or home buyer education or you know, all of these things that are needed. And so we're working with those nonprofits to kind of address that side of things, but.
Over time, we do want to track things beyond housing. I mentioned this housing continuum that we would like to play a role in, and the idea is that, you know, if an individual or family is living somewhere in one of our units one day, eventually we'd love to say. You know, we worked with that family or talked to that family and found out that there was a promotion, or that they have decided that they wanna move to a new neighborhood, or that they went and found out that they are mortgage qualified now, and we'd love to be able to move that family across that continuum.
Does that mean you want a larger unit? Okay. Well, we have a portfolio. Can we help move you to that next unit? Right? Does that mean you wanna move closer to work and live in a different neighborhood? Well, great. Hopefully we have a property there. And then get people to the idea of home ownership if that is something that they want.
And so that is a piece of our model is a path to home ownership preparation for folks that wanna get into a single family home that are working in that direction. So that's the idea, is to eventually be able to say. We saw families kind of move through that to get to their goal.
Kelly Scanlon: You're working, as you stated, in both new construction and in preservation renovation.
So what are some of the unique challenges of renovating existing homes, especially in under invested neighborhoods, versus going out and starting something from the ground up?
Christina Fenwick: You're always dealing, or typically dealing, I guess with aging infrastructure. So you're looking at things like asbestos, lead-based paint.
Is electrical and plumbing old? Um, are there crumbling foundations? And all of those things can lead to high remediation costs. Uh, they often lead to unforeseen. Budget issues. Um, and so those are challenges of the renovation side. You also see that insurance costs for more of a, a property, uh, operation standpoint typically is higher on an older property and can also be higher in disinvested areas.
And so you're, you're really having to narrow in on those budgets and that can make it pretty difficult sometimes. Um, and then there's also. Kind of a misalignment with some public incentives. Those are typically geared towards new construction. So we're having to find ways to address some of those things and make sure you're buying the asset correctly so that you can, you're, you can handle, uh, the investment that needs to be made.
Kelly Scanlon: What policy shifts or civic partnerships would most help you accelerate your work in Kansas City? You've talked about misalignment quite a bit. Um, so, so what, what needs to
Christina Fenwick: happen? Sure. I think streamlined processes. Permitting zoning, inspections, things like that, that help a project move more quickly.
Time is money that has an impact. Uh, I, I think getting involved with municipalities about how those things truly function in a construction timeline would be extremely helpful. And I know there are efforts in a lot of municipalities to streamline some of those things. Uh, strategic land use. Uh, making good use of publicly owned land or structures.
Again, I think there are some, some things happening in certain municipalities to, to collaborate around that. If there are. Clear and transparent programs around some of those vacant lots or vacant buildings being transformed into housing, then that speeds up the process. There could be opportunities for flexible gap financing when you have.
Public dollars coming in to help address an issue. It's always going to attract more private capital. So the more we can kind of collaborate and address the problem together, I think then you just see more momentum and more dollars, uh, put into a place where it's really needed. And then you mentioned, uh, how housing is not just housing.
It can be healthcare, it can be transportation. And so I think across collaboration in city departments, right, transportation needs to work with housing and community development needs to work with public health. And so all of those things play together. And the more that those. Uh, departments are talking to each other and trying to solve a problem that's not just a one size fits all problem.
This is a holistic community issue we should be addressing. I think we get a lot better at it.
Kelly Scanlon: You're still a very young organization, like you said, December of 2024, but, uh, any good organization's always looking towards the future. Future. So what do you think the future holds for Driven Development?
What do you have your eyes set on?
Christina Fenwick: Well, we're very excited to. Build this engine in Kansas City, figure out the process, really strengthen these, uh, community relationships, figure out, um, the model, put all the systems in place, and then expand this nationally. I mean, I'm a Kansas City native. I grew up here.
I live here. I'm really excited about deepening those partnerships with. The mission aligned folks in Kansas City, there's a lot of great people, a lot of great organizations doing great things, and I think if we can all come together and find new housing models, new systems, right, work with these municipalities, find ways to do this better and do it better together.
I'm really excited about that, and then I think that just leads us to be able to do this in other cities that are facing the same issues, which most cities are,
Kelly Scanlon: and it's not going away very quickly. Anyway, Christina, thank you so much for coming on the show today, talking with us about this very important work and this issue that is not going away anytime soon.
We really appreciate the work that you're doing on it and for spending your time here today. Well,
Christina Fenwick: thank
Kelly Scanlon: you, Kelly. It was great
Christina Fenwick: to talk to you about it.
Joe Close: This is Joe Close, president of Country Club Bank. Thank you to Christina Fenwick, director of Development for Driven Development for being our guest. On this episode of Banking on KC Driven Development is tackling the affordable housing crisis with urgency by combining private sector discipline with non-profit compassion to deliver high quality affordable homes across Kansas City.
From renovating aging properties to breaking ground on new developments in both the urban core and suburbs, their focus is on the entire housing continuum and on measuring success by the stability and progress of families, not just unit counts. At Country Club Bank, we believe vibrant communities begin with strong foundations.
Housing is more than shelter. It's the bedrock that supports economic mobility and quality of life. Thanks for tuning in. This week we're banking on you, Kansas City. Country Club Bank member FDIC.