"One of the things we had hoped to accomplish when we approved this project was to diversify the housing stock in Leawood," Councilmember Lisa Harrison said in January, as the city council approved turning seven Regents Park lots planned for twin villas into detached homes. "And now I feel like that's slowly being minimized by this one parcel at a time."
She turned out to be right. By mid-June, two more south Leawood projects had cut their villas. Meanwhile, the city's draft comprehensive plan reports "relatively broad support" for villas, townhomes and other lower-maintenance ownership options, and notes that some residents have said they lack options for downsizing. Leawood says it wants this kind of home, but buyers haven't been paying new-construction prices for it. The reason is mostly the cost per square foot.
Six built, one sold
The clearest numbers came out at the June 15, 2026 council meeting on East Village, the Oddo Development community south of 133rd Street and east of Pawnee Lane. Councilmember Rubin asked how many twin villas had sold. Courtney Oddo said that of the six units built in three buildings, only one had sold. She put the asking prices at $950,000 to $995,000.
The developer isn't leaving the product behind. Oddo said the built villas will stay on the market, permits are in process for another set, and one more set is planned after that. She said they expect sales to pick up "once the park is in and the community starts coming together." Harrison asked whether a smaller, more affordable villa had been considered. Oddo answered that "construction costs have not allowed them to keep prices very low."
The council approved the revised East Village plan 6–1. It replats seven twin-villa lots into ten detached-home lots. Oddo said those lots will be sold to builders, and detached homes elsewhere in the community were starting at $1.4 million.
For a buyer, this is the part that matters. New attached homes in this part of Leawood are listed, and some have been listed for a while. Most buyers don't expect that from a new build in a city where demand is usually described as strong.
Three projects that all moved toward detached homes
| Project | Original attached plan | Where it stands | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regents Park, phase 5, south of 135th and west of Kenneth Road | 14 twin villas, $800,000 to $1 million suggested | 7 detached homes, priced near $2 million per the applicant | Approved January 2026 |
| Villas of Chadwick, south of 135th and east of Chadwick Street | 62 villas proposed in September 2025, reduced to 16 villas plus 34 detached homes in February 2026 | All villas removed, 42 detached homes total | Approved 6–1 on June 15, 2026 |
| East Village, south of 133rd and east of Pawnee Lane | Twin villas along 133rd Street | Seven villa lots replatted into ten detached lots; some villas remain or are planned | Approved 6–1 on June 15, 2026 |
Villas of Chadwick changed twice in nine months. The planning commission first pushed back on the original 62-unit villa plan over density. The plan that passed in February still included 16 twin villas, which Klover Architects priced at about $800,000 for 1,800 square feet per side. By May 26, the planning commission had voted 8–0 to recommend rezoning those 5.08 acres from attached to detached residential. The council passed it in June, with Harrison voting no.
Councilmember Julie Cain, who is a real estate agent, offered an explanation in January. She said buyers may be reluctant to pay that much for a home that shares a wall, while nearby detached homes seemed to be selling well. In February she added that developers at Regents Park and East Village had both seen twin villas sell more slowly than single-family homes. She also said the villas' price per square foot was "way up there."
What the shared wall costs per square foot
Cain's "way up there" comment becomes clear when you divide price by size.
- Villas of Chadwick villas, as planned in February 2026: about $800,000 for 1,800 square feet per side, or about $444 per square foot.
- East Village villas, asking in June 2026: $950,000 to $995,000. Using the 2,300 square feet per side that Klover's Patrick Reuter cited as the originally approved size, that works out to about $413 to $433 per square foot.
- Leawood resales, last six months as of October 3, 2026: a tracked sample of 267 closings had a median of $228 per square foot. The middle half sold between $195 and $277 per square foot.
The villa figures are rough, because they come from developer-quoted prices and sizes rather than closed sales. Even so, a new twin villa in south Leawood is asking well above the top of the city's resale middle band, about twice the median. That same resale sample shows a six-month median of $765,000 and a median of just 6 days from listing to contract. So a buyer can often get an existing detached home, with its own yard and its own roof, for less than a new villa with a shared wall. That existing home also tends to go under contract within a week.
Detached new construction is just as expensive per square foot. The Chadwick single-family homes were priced around $1 million for 1,800 to 2,200 square feet. The difference is that buyers at that level seem to accept a new-build premium on a detached home, and less so on a home that shares a wall. Oddo's comment about construction costs explains why developers can't close the gap by cutting the villa price.
Why the price holds while the listing waits
Regional figures from the Kansas City Regional Association of Realtors help explain why builders wait rather than cut. In August 2026, newly built homes across the multi-county region sold for 100.2% of original list price. Existing homes sold for 97.4%. New construction took a median of 107 days to sell that month, compared with 32 for existing homes, and carried 4.9 months of supply against 2.4.
These numbers cover the whole region, not Leawood alone. Still, they fit what happened at East Village. Builders across the metro have tended to hold their list price and wait for a buyer. When a product type keeps waiting, the fix shows up in the site plan instead of the price. That is what the June 15 replat did.
Where new attached housing is going instead
The one new attached project moving forward in Leawood is being built to rent, not to sell. On May 18, 2026, the council voted 8–0 to approve the rezoning and preliminary plan for Leawood Market Center. The plan puts 64 attached townhomes in 12 buildings on 9.35 acres at the southwest corner of 135th Street and State Line Road, next to three retail buildings totaling 23,569 square feet.
Matt Segal of TriStar Properties, who leads the residential side, described the units as rentals of about 1,250 to 1,600 square feet. He said most rents would be above $3,000 a month. If a unit were sold instead, he suggested a price of $600,000 to $700,000. The approval is only preliminary. A final plan and final plat still have to pass before construction can start.
So the city's housing-variety goals are partly being met, but as rental townhomes rather than owner-occupied villas. The draft comprehensive plan was distributed in June and drew more than 150 comments from elected officials and planning commissioners. At the September 28 joint work session, it put the question directly: "What is the desired approach for enabling downsizing in Leawood for aging residents who are seeking independent living options?" As of that session, the city had not settled on an answer.
What already exists
Since new supply keeps getting rezoned, existing maintenance-provided communities matter more. Berkshire Villas has 58 villa homes inside the larger 224-home Berkshire Homes Association. For 2026, villa owners pay $2,500 a year to the villa association, which covers lawn, shrub and ornamental-tree care, ash street-tree maintenance, snow removal and yard-light maintenance. They also pay $1,350 a year to the master association for trash, glass recycling, common areas, and the pool, tennis courts and clubhouse. That is $3,850 a year for a defined list of services. When comparing homes, that list is the thing to read line by line.
Pricing older villas is harder than it sounds. Kansas is a non-disclosure state, so sale prices aren't public record. In a community of 58 homes, the comps for a given floor plan may be one or two sales, and you only see them through MLS access. A buyer comparing a Berkshire villa with a new East Village unit is often working from less price history than they realize.
Questions to ask before you write an offer
- How long has this unit been listed, and how many in the same building or phase have closed? At East Village in June, one of six had sold.
- Is the rest of the villa phase still zoned attached? Three projects changed their mix in under six months, and a replat can change what gets built next door.
- Which amenities have been promised but not built yet? Oddo tied future sales to the park being finished.
- What exactly does the association maintain? Ask for the itemized list, the way Berkshire Villas publishes theirs, and look closely at roofs and exteriors.
- Which closed comps support the price? In a non-disclosure state, ask your agent for MLS closings on attached homes specifically, not citywide medians.
FAQ
Is Leawood still approving twin villas? Yes. Some remain at East Village, where Oddo described two more villa buildings under the revised plan. The 2026 approvals at Regents Park, Villas of Chadwick and East Village all moved lots from attached to detached.
Can you buy a Leawood Market Center townhome? Under the plan described in May 2026, no. The developer said the homes are intended as rentals.
Why are Leawood resale numbers hard to check? Kansas doesn't make sale prices public record, so any figure you see comes from MLS records or a tracked sample of closings.
If you're weighing a new Leawood villa against an existing home, or wondering what your current house would bring if you sold it to downsize, I'll pull the attached-home closings that actually apply to your situation. When you call Trent Gallagher, Trent answers. Request your complimentary home valuation, and we'll compare the numbers side by side.
