TULSA, Okla. — The City of Tulsa launched its T-Town Home Catalog, a new tool aimed at making home building easier and more affordable.
After a year and a half of development, city officials unveiled the catalog, complete with a collection of 18 pre-approved building plans for single and multi-family homes. The plans are free for anyone to use.
"We know it takes time to build, it's expensive," said Gene Bulmash, Senior Advisor for Housing. "The longer it takes, the more expensive it is, and the more expensive it is, the less housing that's affordable gets created."
The catalog is designed to streamline the development process by eliminating permit approval waits that typically slow down construction projects.
Austin Wojciechowski, a local real estate broker, praised the city's initiative.
"You love to see the city is taking charge and making things easier instead of adding red tape," Wojciechowski said. "I think streamlining these plan submissions and having these preapproved plans I think it’s just gonna help supercharge a lot of developers demystify the process and get more things built more quickly."
He said it's definitely something he sees he and his team using. The intentionality behind the catalog, specifically with the long homes that Wojciechowski said he sees a lot of around town, showed him how much thought the city's team put into the initiative.
"What I have seen from the city is they're willing to listen, they're willing to take that feedback," he added. "I don't have concerns, I think it's just sit back, watch it happen and have them be ready to make adjustments as needed."
The catalog offers variety to meet different homeowners' needs, from affordability considerations to space needs. Plans include options for duplexes, triplexes and accessory dwelling units.
"This allows different options," Bulmash said. "So, the hope is this will help the momentum that's already happening of more people creating more housing options of more types and bringing down the cost so more housing that's affordable."
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Each plan includes pre-approved variations, allowing builders to customize homes while maintaining streamlined approval processes. Things like higher ceilings or different roof plans.
City officials say Tulsa is positioning itself as an innovator in housing development.
"There are a couple other trendsetters around the country we are trying to be in the forefront of innovation and incentivizing development," said Bulmash.
The initiative represents the city's broader effort to encourage more housing development and address affordability challenges.
Bulmash said construction using the catalog plans could begin within weeks.
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