Banner Oaks subdivision starting to take shape

Three years after a 10-lot residential subdivision at the south edge of Holton was proposed to the Holton City Commission as an avenue for “moderate income housing” that would help alleviate a shortage of available housing in the city, the first two houses in the subdivision are nearing completion and all but one of the lots have been secured for residential construction.

Construction of residential structures in the Banner Oaks Subdivision, located on Banner Road near South Iowa Avenue and along Banner Creek, has been progressing this summer, and those who drive Banner Road have been able to see the progress that’s been made so far, while Holton contractor Mark Aeschliman says that more residential construction is on the way.

“I have four custom builds coming up on four of the lots and another lot that I’m committed to,” said Aeschliman, who was joined by Holton realtor Roger Hower and Ross Vogel of Heartland Housing Partners of Kansas City in proposing the subdivision to city commissioners three years ago this month.

Today, new houses are nearing completion on two of the lots developed by Topeka real estate developer William Mah, who has committed to building homes on four of the lots, and construction has begun on two of the five lots that Aeschliman has secured. Only one lot remains to be claimed — a half-acre parcel at the intersection of Banner Road and South Iowa Avenue that Aeschliman said is not ready for building on yet.

“It’s going to require a considerable amount of dirt work to raise the elevation of that lot above the floodplain,” Aeschliman said of the lot. “They’re going to need a concrete retaining wall and some other things to make it a buildable lot.”

Aeschliman, Hower and Vogel first proposed the subdivision to city commissioners in August of 2020, with Vogel suggesting that 10 single-story homes without basements on the 5.86-acre tract of land at that location could be built and sold with a target price of $200,000 to $250,000, providing a “$2.5-million investment in the community in a needed housing segment.”

Commissioners favored the subdivision plan and applied for a Moderate Income Housing grant through the Kansas Housing Resources Corporation, and the city received $350,000 in grant funds for the benefit of the subdivision. Those funds were used to fund the costs of land acquisition, engineering and construction of infrastructure, as well as providing down payment assistance and closing costs for people who committed to building or buying homes on the lots, it was reported.

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