The future of a low-income housing complex is uncertain after Little Rock City Board members failed to pass a set of ordinances intended to save the complex from foreclosure.
City Directors debated three agenda items at their Tuesday meeting establishing a plan to save the Madison Heights apartments from foreclosure. Two items passed with majority support, but a third to fund the plan failed on a roll call vote.
Madison Heights is managed by the city’s long-troubled public housing authority, which does business as the Metropolitan Housing Alliance.
Donna Massey is a chair of Arkansas Community Organizations and sits on the Pulaski County Quorum Court. She urged members to vote to prevent the building from going into foreclosure.
“You are affecting a lot of people that are in desperate need of this housing,” Massey said, noting many residents receive assistance buying groceries from federal programs like SNAP or receive insurance through Medicaid. Both programs are currently threatened by federal cuts.
“Where are these individuals going to go?”
She said the complex becoming vacant would have a detrimental impact on the community. Massey said a vacant complex would decrease other property values in the area, lead to higher crime rates, cost the city more in upkeep fees, and present health hazards for the community.
Ward 5 Director Lance Hines voted against providing a short-term loan to help the Metropolitan Housing Alliance save the complex, citing the city’s limited abilities and the MHA's history of turmoil. The city replaced members of the housing authority’s board in 2023 after the agency received a “troubled” rating from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Hines suggested, despite the new board members’ best efforts, the only “life preserver” available for Madison Heights is for HUD to take control of the property.
“We’re not the federal government, we're the local municipal government,” Hines said. “I think we’re just kicking the can down the road because there’s some inherent problems that I just don’t know that [MHA] can recover from.”
Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. explained the city's options after only two out of three agenda items gained approval.
“The city board has approved to create a legal pathway to save Madison Heights, and they've also ordered an attorney to save Madison Heights, but ultimately to save Madison Heights we have to fund a short term note. So, as of right now, we do not have funds to save it unless something happens between now and the next month in that process.”
Scott said the city may still come to an agreement on issuing a short-term loan to the housing authority in the future, but noted the money must be approved quickly in order to bring the process to a close.
