FAYETTEVILLE -- Residents of Hillcrest Towers should be getting new neighbors.
The Fayetteville Housing Authority plans to add three buildings with a total of 97 apartments to the 120-unit, 12-story downtown public housing complex. The estimated $13.7 million project is expected to break ground next year in April and wrap construction by June 2022.
Preliminary drawings show one building with a parking deck lining Meadow Street to the north and two smaller buildings along West Avenue to the west. The buildings would sit on the perimeter of the north and south parking lots of the property, with Hillcrest in the middle. All the buildings would be detached and commercial space would be on the street level.
The 97 units would be a mix of studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments. The plan is to have 78 of the units leased to people considered low income by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development standards. The remaining 19 units would be leased at market rate.
The federal government considers anyone who makes below 80% of median family income to be low-income. Median family income for the Northwest Arkansas metropolitan area is $73,600.
Tenants might pay more or less than 30% of their income toward rent. Target income range for tenants is $25,200 to $62,000. Rent would range from $630 to $1,550 per month.
Units at Hillcrest are reserved for seniors or residents with disabilities. There would be no such requirement for the new units. Hillcrest would remain public housing while the new units would be built as a private development. Residents of Hillcrest pay public housing rental rates, which is the greater of 30% of adjusted monthly income, 10% of monthly unadjusted gross income or $50 per month.
The Housing Authority would build under a nonprofit it formed in 2017. Building under the nonprofit corporation enables the authority to pursue a variety of financing options, Executive Director Angela Belford said.
"There's a desperate need for affordable housing, and there are many roads to finances," she said.
A public housing authority forming a development corporation is consistent with practices today, said Georgi Banna, director of policy and program development with the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials. The association is a member organization of housing and community development professionals, according to its website.
Building and preserving affordable housing can involve a mix of public and private resources, Banna said. Strategies might include any combination of bonds, loans, low-income housing tax credits, creating a private development entity or using federal programs such as the Rental Assistance Demonstration program, he said.
Banna said many public housing authorities across the country have successfully built affordable housing and maintained existing homes, even at a time of increased demand and decreasing federal investment.
The authority selected Cardinal Capital Management in Wisconsin after putting out bids for a development partner. Cardinal developers will get a 5% fee of the $13.7 million construction cost, equating to $685,000.
Authority staff showed the concepts for the buildings to Hillcrest residents Aug. 7. Jen Cole, who's lived at Hillcrest for about six years, said at first she was worried about privacy issues with the expansion. The concepts show the Meadow Street building reaching about half the height of the tower, and windows would face each other.
Then again, Cole said, she's from New York. Fayetteville needs more affordable housing, and having neighbors nearby is a consequence of downtown living, she said.
"We're getting to be pretty built up in this city," Cole said. "I really don't see anything else we can do but expand on our property."
To see a pdf of design concepts, visit: www.nwaonline.com/Hillcrest0816/
More News
A little history
The property where Hillcrest Towers stands, at 1 N. School Ave., was once the site of the city’s first public high school, built in 1908. The city had grown significantly by 1952, and a new high school was built where the current one sits north of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The old building was then used as Fayetteville Junior High School.
Woodland Junior High School was built on Poplar Street in 1959, and the old school became Hillcrest Junior High School. Hillcrest remained a junior high until 1966, when Ramay Junior High was built.
On June 13, 1969, the building that had once been Fayetteville High School, then Fayetteville Junior High School, then Hillcrest Junior High, burned down. The property was razed and replaced by Hillcrest Towers.
Source: Jerry Hogan, local historian
Stacy Ryburn can be reached by email at sryburn@nwadg.com or on Twitter @stacyryburn.