Nonprofit seeks new home development
Potential new home developments could be underway this year with the recent letter of intent approval between Pine Bluff Urban Renewal Agency and Home Again Pine Bluff, a nonprofit dedicated to the rebuilding of families through the construction of affordable housing led by Rob Withers and Matt Mosler.
Approved by PBURA board members last week, the letter of intent awarded the public-private partnership concerning new single construction in the area of 33rd Avenue and Plum Street.
A groundbreaking back in December was held at that location. The 33rd and Plum neighborhood would feature the first house in the city’s upcoming ALICE neighborhood. ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, yet Employed; families who live in Pine Bluff’s metropolitan statistical area can become eligible for full financing over a 30-year term through Simmons Bank.
The purpose of the ALICE neighborhood, CEO of Go Forward Pine Bluff Ryan Watley said, is to increase home ownership in the city. The zone for the program borders 34th Avenue to the south, 17th Avenue to the north, Olive Street to the east and Hazel Street to the west.
According to PBURA executive director Chandra Griffin, PBURA and GFPB had been working with The Fay Jones School of Architecture at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, but the cost of construction became too expensive. So a request for proposals was sent out and Home Again Pine Bluff was selected.
“They were proposing to take care of the financing, which is very attractive for Urban Renewal to move forward,” said Griffin, who said she is currently working on the developmental agreement.
Home Again Pine Bluff has had success with its restoration efforts restoring five historic homes on East Eighth Avenue over the past three years.
In October, the Pine Bluff Commercial documented their success as Mosler partnered with his best friend of 42 years. Withers, who retired and moved to Pine Bluff and oversees the construction and is also the visionary for the home designs, as well as FBT Bank & Mortgage Executive Vice President Lance Nutt, spoke about the homes on East Eighth Avenue being fully renovated or currently being renovated with a goal to complete the entire block by 2023.
“We would like to partner with PBURA to build three new homes,” Mosler and Withers said in their proposal letter. “Our longer-term goal is to build 34 homes on Belmont and Auburn Drive where we own an additional 34 lots.”
The pair goes on to say that by partnering with PBURA they could bring those homes into the Pine Bluff homeowners’ association and make other classes available to these new homeowners through programming efforts to be delivered through HAPB and partnerships with the city of Pine Bluff.
Home Again Pine Bluff comes with $20,000 in liquid assets, $400,000 valuation in real property, $50,000 in credit line and an additional credit line pledge from FBT Bank of $360,000 for the specific purpose of building
three new homes within Pine Bluff, according to its proposal.
“HAPB will enter a construction contract with FBT to cover construction costs as completed,” Mosler and Withers said.
With 34 lots donated to Home Again Pine Bluff near Lowes across the street from The Pines mall, Mosler said in a previous interview those 34 homes would be built with a $25,000 grant for every police officer and school teacher.
“We’ll give them a $25,000 grant. We’ll build them a house from the ground up, and the grant will help them buy the house with equity already in it,” Mosler said. “These young teachers coming to Pine Bluff can get a new home built, have equity in their house and have a police officer next to them, which adds to the safety and security of the neighborhood.”
Mosler said FBT Bank would finance the home loan and the money will go back into the program, building three to four homes at a time.
FBT Bank & Mortgage and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas (FHLB Dallas) has awarded in the past a Partnership Grant Program (PGP) funds to Home Again Pine Bluff.
Langston Construction will be the proposed constructor with a completion time of six months once the construction starts. The home will be a three-bedroom, two-bathroom with an enclosed garage. The 1,250 sqft home is estimated to cost around $141,237 per house.
Mosler said The Home Again Program is designed to take families from poverty to self-sufficiency. Even though under his program the homes are offered under short-term rental agreements with home ownership as the end goal, Griffin said the homes, through their agreement, will be built to sell.
“The intention is to sell with the hopes of attracting people who are in the ALICE program,” said Griffin, who added that the agency is currently looking to expand the ALICE area. “This partnership gives Home Again a test run to what they are going to do on a larger scale. It’s a partnership of pulling resources together for a common goal. They wanted to build and we wanted to build. I pray it all works out and together we can move forward.”
Mosler gives thanks and recognition to FBT Bank, Urban Renewal and the Walton Foundation for their help.
“None of us at Home Again Pine Bluff take a salary,” Mosler said. “One of our missions as an organization and as a church is to get families back together. That is the best thing we can do as a community to improve education, decrease crime and restore hope to a community. But that is a long-term solution. In the interim, we need to attract certified teachers with a passion not just to teach ABCs but a heart to impact their students in a positive way.”
Mosler said in order to receive a grant they will need to teach and serve in Pine Bluff for at least three years.