Dump the "but for"
The City of Topeka says we have a housing crisis. Their own updated housing study (released September 2026) says the city needs 4,220 additional housing units over the next 20 years — roughly 210 units a year. Median home values jumped 63% between 2019 and 2025. Rents are up. Inventory is tight. As of the June 2026 Point-in-Time count, 460 people in Topeka/Shawnee County were still experiencing homelessness. So how is the city responding? By writing checks to Columbia Capital Management totaling approximately $1.85 million in municipal advisory and consulting fees across 95 invoices dating back more than a decade. Of that, $136,500 was specifically for RHID consulting — nine separate invoices, eight of them at $16,000 and one at $8,500, for projects including Riverstone (Meier’s Place), Sherwood Village Park, Union at Tower District, Project View, 3D Homes, Johnson-Betts Meadows, and Windward Estates. These aren’t small administrative fees. They’re the price of admission to...
