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Porter Cove Neighborhood

Porter Cove Neighborhood

Tracy Roulston, Chief of Staff, for the City of North Little Rock shared comments today at the Habitat for Humanity's Dedication Ceremony of Porter Cove Neighborhood.

Over the past decade, the City of North Little Rock has sponsored the construction of over 60 new houses and rehabilitations, both with Habitat and its supporting organization, the Pulaski County Neighborhood Alliance for Habitat. Each one of these homes means new North Little Rock residents, who will add to our local tax base by funding schools and government services. These families will be supporting local businesses, which improves our economy, and their kids will be educated in our outstanding schools.

The Porter Cove project started as a “crazy idea” of the former Habitat Executive Director, Bill Plunkett. This site used to house the North Heights Elementary School, which closed in 2015 and stood vacant for over two years with no plans to repurpose it until Bill called the City and asked what the plan was for it; he said he wanted it to build Habitat houses. Arkansas Development Financial Authority stepped in with the grant funding and the project was off and running! An abandoned building that had become an eyesore for the community is now a thriving hub of activity filled with pride of ownership.

Throughout this project, the City also contributed our staff’s experience, resources, and expertise specifically from our Engineering Department and our Community Development Agency. City staff worked alongside Habitat’s staff to oversee the entire planning and infrastructure phases of the project. Ward 3 council members, Steve Baxter and Ron Harris, contributed over $60,000 from their own budget to pay for engineering services and to help with unforeseen infrastructure expenses.

We look forward to using this Porter Cove development as a template to recreate in other areas of the City. Currently, the City has over $2 million in funds committed to affordable housing projects with Habitat here in North Little Rock.

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The City partners with Pulaski County Neighborhood Alliance for Habitat (PCNAH), a supporting organization of Habitat for Humanity of Central Arkansas, on the development of new affordable housing in North Little Rock.  PCNAH constructs attractive, energy efficient homes and offers zero percent interest financing to eligible low income homebuyers!  For more information, call PCNAH at 501-690-0349.

Posted on 09/02/2021