Developers announce $12M affordable housing project in Springdale

A $12 million multifamily project in early development in east Springdale could present a new, scalable model aimed at meeting the demand for affordable housing.

Spring Creek Village, which is expected to break ground in mid-2022, is a public-private partnership with the city. According to a news release issued Thursday (Oct. 28), Sterling Hamilton of Cushman & Wakefield/Sage Partners, Thom Embach of Leisure Homes Corp. of Mountain Home and Casey Kleinhenz of Bentonville nonprofit Community Development Corp. are backing the mixed-income project.

“Thom, Casey and I have been able to collaborate on this new concept in affordable housing, utilizing Opportunity Zones and federal subsidies in partnership with a practical and forward-thinking city like Springdale,” Hamilton said. “This public-private partnership should be a case study for other cities in need of affordable housing.”

Leisure Homes and Community Development Corp. are the project owners.

According to the release, the development team will rely on city infrastructure contribution, Opportunity Zone tax incentives and non-competitive development funds to underwrite the affordable portion of the project.   With access to those sources, the owners say the project is more likely to succeed in Springdale and spread to other areas in Northwest Arkansas and beyond.

The 6.3-acre project site is approximately one mile east of The Jones Center near Emma Avenue and McCullough Drive. Residents will have multimodal access to Springdale amenities by a new connection to the Dean’s Trail spur of the Razorback Regional Greenway.

Civil Design Engineers Inc. and Core Architects worked together to design the site. Leisure Homes is the general contractor through its subsidiary T&E Contractors Inc. which was formed in 1992 and is owned by Embach.

“We still have a few technical items to address, but the initial framework and contract with the city are set up for a successful project,” Hamilton said. “We hope to deliver a walkable, mixed-income community that can be an example for other developers, funders and governmental organizations.”

Hamilton said the project’s unit mix has not been determined.