FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas — Affordable housing is a tough thing to come across in Northwest Arkansas. That's why a University of Arkansas alumnus turned a motel into an affordable housing complex.
If you drive past what used to be a Quality Inn motel off of I-49 in Fayetteville, you'll see it has a new name, paint job, and ownership. In July, 5NEWS spoke with Countdown Properties, LLC Manager Brandon Scallion about his plans to turn the motel into affordable housing.
For the last five months, crews have remodeled every room with new granite countertops and air conditioning units and added furniture to 90% of the units.
"We do a pre-spray for pests on every square inch of this place before we ever open the parking lot, getting it restriped and redone, making sure we're up to ADA code, things like that," Scallion said. "That's what we're working on right now."
The complex — which is called The Nest — has 106 units and has already started the pre-leasing phase. Scallion said there are close to 180 applicants, and it's a population he wanted to help the most.
"So far, the majority have been the social security income, disability income, single mothers, and the elderly," he said. "The applications are showing exactly what we are hoping to get."
Rent ranges from $825 to $950 a unit with electric, water, sewer, gas, trash, WiFi, and other amenities included in the price. Unlike most properties, applicants are not required to make three times the rent.
"Our deposits are only $300, so we're trying to be the cheapest around to get into a unit," Scallion said.
With Fayetteville being in the middle of a housing crisis, Scallion said he's happy to help in any way possible.
"Our whole mission is purpose over profit," he said. "We want to do as much as we can to help. We've had a lot of cost overruns with this one, so we weren't as low as we thought. We're still fairly, quite a bit lower than most of what's available, especially with all bills paid."
Scallion does hope people can start moving in by late January. His long-term goal is to provide a similar housing project in cities like Springdale, Rogers, and Bentonville.
The company worked with G&J Construction to complete the remodeling process.
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