Kansas City offers floor-area and height bonuses for projects that include affordable units, particularly along the streetcar corridor and in Plan KC priority areas. Bonuses are negotiated through Chapter 88 special review or development agreements rather than a single formula.
Kansas City does not have one statewide-style density-bonus statute like California's. Instead, Chapter 88 allows site plan and special-use mechanisms that let the City Plan Commission grant additional height, FAR or reduced parking when developers commit affordable units, structured parking or public-realm improvements. The Kansas City Affordable Housing Trust Fund (Ord. 220139, 2022) and the AdvanceKC scoring rubric for tax incentives reward projects providing units at 60 to 80 percent of area median income, particularly along the KC Streetcar route and in 64108, 64109 and 64111. Tax-increment financing under Missouri Revised Statutes Chapter 99 frequently funds the public-side cost.
If a developer accepts a bonus but fails to deliver promised affordable units, the city can claw back tax incentives, withhold certificates of occupancy and pursue breach-of-contract remedies under the development agreement.
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See how Kansas City's density bonus law rules stack up against other locations.
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