City Director gets pushback, approvals on planned $1.6 million housing development

Fort Smith Director and real estate developer Keith Lau recently cleared his first hurdle for a proposed duplex development to support University of Arkansas at Fort Smith (UAFS) students with off-campus housing.

Planning commissioners on May 8 voted 6-2 in favor despite opposition from the North 49th Street neighborhood, where the development will go when it opens in the fall of 2019.

According to project architect Brett Abbott, each of the six duplexes at 1001, 1011, and 1021 North 49th Street will contain two units, with around 1,402 square feet of heated living space per unit (or 2,804 per duplex). Each unit will contain four bedrooms and a “common space” living area with a kitchen. The lower deck will include covered parking for all tenants, personal storage, and an area to keep trash and recycling bins out of sight.

Lau was not in attendance Tuesday, but his development plan called for variances consisting of 25-30-foot setbacks for front and side yards. Another variance asked the commission to consider reducing the 10,500 minimum square foot/four dwellings per acre lot size requirement to 9,600 square feet and 4.6 dwellings per acre. Getting the approval made the difference between being able to build six duplexes or only three.

Neighborhood residents voiced fears over increased traffic and what might become of the units if Lau is unable to rent them out to the “ideal” tenants. Commenter Tina Rousey also voiced a lack of confidence in Lau’s ability to police the properties, citing current “unkempt” properties on the street.

Abbott noted the development is “high-end” with planned materials, and each building will operate under maintenance contracts to ensure the development will be “an enhancement to the neighborhood.” Abbott also said there were trees between 60-80 years in age located in the neighborhood and that every effort would be taken to preserve those if possible.

The next step of the process is for the project to go to the city’s Board of Directors for final approval.

After the meeting, Lau told Talk Business & Politics in a phone interview that the project would bring “much-needed improvement to the current use of that property.” Lau currently has rental properties there, but “the rent point is such that I can’t keep good tenants in there.”

“They park in the yards, don’t cut their grass. You’ll notify them, and they still won’t do it. With these, we’ll have lawn care, and they’ll just be professionally managed and cared for.”

Lau said he hadn’t decided on the monthly rental prices, but said they would be “comparable to Sebastian Commons,” and that the overall project will cost “about $1.6 million.”