Mayor Nichols Proclaims June as “Housing Month” in City of Tulsa

Mayor Nichols Proclaims June as "Housing Month" in City of Tulsa

6/5/2026

Earlier this week, Mayor Monroe Nichols officially designated June 2026 as Housing Month in the city of Tulsa, reaffirming the City's commitment to expanding access to safe, quality, and affordable housing for residents across Tulsa.

The designation comes as the City continues implementing an ambitious housing strategy designed to close Tulsa's affordable housing gap, revitalize neighborhoods, reduce barriers to development, and increase housing opportunities in every part of the city.

"Housing is foundational to everything we're trying to accomplish as a city," Mayor Nichols said. "Whether we're working to reduce homelessness, create safer neighborhoods, improve outcomes for children and families, expand economic opportunity, or strengthen partnerships throughout our community, housing plays a critical role. Every Tulsan deserves the opportunity to live in a safe, stable home and in a neighborhood where they can thrive."

Housing Month also serves as an opportunity to reflect on the progress made since the Mayor issued his Housing Executive Order in 2025 and to highlight the work underway to meet the goal of creating 6,000 housing units that are affordable and reducing the number of vacant, abandoned, and dilapidated properties across Tulsa by 60% by that same time.

Since early 2025, the City has launched a series of new initiatives and strategies aimed at increasing housing production and improving housing outcomes, including the:

• Creation of Tulsa's first Housing Acceleration Team (HAT) to move large projects through the permitting process much faster
• Launch of Tulsa's new Community Builder Pilot Program, which assists developers in turning vacant, abandoned, and dilapidated properties back into usable housing by eliminating some of the challenges involved in the process
• Creation of a new Housing Unit Tracker to show real-time updates on the City's progress
• Implementation of expanded permitting assistance elsewhere in the City, such as providing Satellite Permit Services during the months of February and June
• Ongoing community engagement efforts focused on housing and neighborhood development through the Mayor's Office and the Tulsa Planning Office; and
• Launch of the Faith-Based Housing Initiative, which is a new, innovative program to help local faith leaders and congregations navigate options regarding their underutilized or vacant land into housing

Combined, these initiatives are designed to make it easier, faster, and more efficient to build housing and keeping housing affordable while increasing transparency and accountability around the City's housing goals.

Improve Our Tulsa 3 Housing Commitments Coming Online
At the same time, the City has worked with community partners to establish a path forward for public dollars committed by Tulsans during the 2023 Improve Our Tulsa (IOT 3) August vote, which included Tulsa's largest commitment of public funding for housing in its history to support housing production, preservation, affordability, and neighborhood revitalization efforts throughout the city.

While much of the work over the past several years has focused on building the systems, partnerships, and funding distribution networks necessary to support that investment - Housing Month is a great time to announce that Tulsa is now entering a new phase where residents will begin seeing more of those efforts take shape in neighborhoods across the city.

In 2025, the Tulsa Housing Impact Fund was selected to administer $47 million of the $75 million that voters dedicated to housing through Improve Our Tulsa 3. In the coming weeks and months, an announcement will be made about the first projects to receive funding from these dollars, marking a significant milestone in the implementation of that historic investment.

"For the last several years, we've been building the foundation necessary to tackle one of Tulsa's most significant challenges," said Gene Bulmash, the City's Senior Advisor of Housing. "We've worked to align our policies, processes, partnerships, and investments around housing because we know there isn't a single solution to this issue. Now we're beginning to move from building the framework to delivering projects that will create real housing opportunities for Tulsa families."

Housing Month - What's Next
This summer, the City expects to ramp up its efforts to carry out its ambitious housing strategy.

Several announcements to watch for include:

• Launch of the T-Town Home Catalog (Pre-Approved Plans) on the City's website to provide developers with a pre-approved set of building plans so that housing projects can move quickly into the construction phase
• Discussion and launch of the Vacancy Improvement Program (VIP) that will allow the City to utilize a new state law, championed by Mayor Nichols, to foreclose vacant, abandoned, and dilapidated properties and turn them back into useful housing. A discussion item to create a local ordinance to move this program forward is expected to be on a Council committee meeting next week, June 10.
• New and upcoming ordinances that will soon be discussed regarding owners who commit to new housing that's affordable; the first to waive City code abatement liens incurred by previous owners and the second to reduce building permit fees. Initial ordinance discussions have occurred with the Tulsa City Council's Habitability Working Group and are expected to go before the full Council in the coming weeks.
• Upcoming Request for Proposal (RFP) for additional mixed-use housing units in Tulsa.

Housing Unit Tracker - Results Show City is 30% of the Way Toward Housing Goal
The City's Housing Tracker continues to provide residents with a transparent view of progress toward Tulsa's housing goals and serves as a tool for measuring the impact of the investments and reforms currently underway.

Since December of 2024, there have been over 1,800 new affordable housing units completed or permitted, which is more than 30% of the way toward the goal of 6,000. With the IOT 3 monies starting to be distributed to projects, it is expected these numbers will increase significantly. To see the map, visit: www.cityoftulsa.org/housing

Upcoming Community Conversations & Engagement Opportunities
Throughout Housing Month, residents will have opportunities to engage with City staff and learn more about housing initiatives currently underway.

Currently, the City is hosting its second round of its Satellite Permit Center every Tuesday morning and Thursday afternoon this month at the 36th Street North Event Center, providing residents, property owners, builders, and developers with direct access to information and assistance related to housing development and permitting.

Housing will also be a major topic during Mayor Nichols' ongoing community conversations on June 9 and June 23, giving residents the opportunity to discuss housing needs, learn about current initiatives, and help shape future solutions.

For more information about those conversations, visit: https://www.cityoftulsa.org/mayor/community-conversations-series/

Broader Housing Work
The need for more housing is not entirely new. A 2023 Citywide Housing Assessment showed Tulsa needed almost 13,000 more housing units over the next 10 years to meet demand. The assessment, along with conditions at the time, was one of the main reasons the Mayor/Council 3H Task Force convened and ultimately released 33 Path to Home recommendations to tackle homelessness at the intersection of housing and mental health.

Ultimately, twelve of those recommendations centered on housing priorities to boost housing stock

For more information about the 3H Task Force and its Path to Home Recommendations, visit: www.cityoftulsa.org/PathToHome