Ground is broken for mixed-income housing in Rogers

ROGERS — A project that aims to bring more affordable housing options here is officially underway.

Community Development NWA broke ground Monday on the Olive Street Apartments, a 60-unit mixed-income housing development in Rogers. The nonprofit development and management company focuses on creating and maintaining affordable housing in the region, according to its website.

The $13 million project on the corner of Olive and 24th streets is being funded through three sources: a $7 million market-rate loan from Cadence Bank, a Walton Family Foundation contribution and owner equity invested by Community Development NWA, according to a press release.

The Walton Family Foundation will be contributing a below market rate, deferred loan, said Casey Kleinhenz, executive director of Community Development NWA.

Representatives of the foundation said in this model, the funds will eventually be repaid, then recycled by the foundation into similar affordable housing projects in the community.

The housing complex will have 45 units available for households earning less than 80% of the area median income, 12 of which will be for households earning less than 50% of the median income, as stated in the press release. According to the Fannie Mae area median income lookup tool, the area median income for Benton County is $92,400; 80% of that is $73,920 and 50% is $46,200.

This project and ones like it will promote inclusive communities, said Robert Burns, the Home Region Program director at the Walton Family Foundation.

“The need for affordable housing in Northwest Arkansas is undeniable,” Kleinhenz said. He said the Olive Street Apartments will directly address the need for affordable housing in the region by offering a variety of units priced below market rate.

The complex will consist of four three-story, walk-up buildings, and all 60 units will be 1,074 square feet with two bedrooms and two bathrooms, according to the nonprofit.

All units will be of the same quality, regardless of the affordability aspect, Kleinhenz said.

Development work on the project includes general contracting by Burckart Construction, engineering by Halff and architectural de

sign by Henry Architecture. The complex is expected to be completed by the fall of 2025.

Bill Burckart of Burckart Construction said this development will provide affordable housing for the area’s workforce that regular developments do not.

Without projects like the Olive Street Apartments, the area will not have a workforce to sustain the area’s future population projections, Rogers-Lowell Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Raymond Burns said.

The project is within walking distance to grocery stores, restaurants and pharmacies, according to the Community Development NWA press release. The nonprofit will also give a little over half an acre of the 3½-acre site to the city of Rogers for designated open public space.

Kleinhenz said Community Development NWA has the development capacity of any other development company and can offer charitable housing because operations such as management and leasing are done in-house.

Community Development NWA also will manage the “Big Emma” apartment complex in Springdale that will offer 30 of its 77 units as workforce housing for households earning less than the area median income, according to a press release from Groundwork, a Big Emma investor. The publication said the nonprofit’s goal in management is to “ensure perpetual affordability and maintain income compliance for the workforce units.”

The development organization broke ground on the Big Emma project earlier this month. Kleinhenz said it is not common to break ground on two projects in such a small time frame, but the need for affordable housing is the driving force.