Little Rock City Manager Bruce Moore on Thursday said he is removing a resolution from the city board's agenda that would authorize the purchase of property owned by a city employee in order to create a homeless shelter and micro-home village at the site.
"After reviewing the documents regarding the purchase of property at 3101 West 32nd Street, I am pulling the item from the Agenda at this point. The City will order two additional appraisals to help determine a viable purchase price," Moore wrote in an email to the mayor and board members. "As soon as the appraisals are finalized I will bring the item back before the City Board."
The resolution authorizing the purchase was originally scheduled to be heard during last Tuesday's city board meeting.
However, after an Arkansas Democrat-Gazette inquiry regarding the price, Moore on Sept. 2 told officials that the item would be delayed for two weeks, until the Sept. 20 meeting. At their meeting earlier this week, board members approved modifying the agenda to defer the resolution.
The 3101 W. 32nd St. property is owned by Rickey M. Evans Sr., who works for the Little Rock Housing and Neighborhood Programs Department under Director Kevin Howard.
Evans was hired in his current role of community development rehabilitation administrator in May 2020. He has previously worked for the city in other capacities over the years, according to personnel records.
He acquired the 32nd Street property in 2018 for $55,000 from the estate of Mitchell Wayne Bobrowski, according to the Pulaski County assessor's office. The assessor's office lists the property's appraised value as $47,300.
The proposed purchase outlined in city board documents said Little Rock had offered $460,000 for the tract and its roughly 8,000-square-foot commercial building.
The property was listed for $499,000 and a "cost approach appraisal value" came to $471,000, according to a memo prepared for city board members. Funding for the purchase was available as a result of the American Rescue Plan Act and the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, the memo said.
The 3.53-acre property is located just south of the Pulaski County jail.
In an interview last week, Howard said Evans was not involved in conversations or decision-making with regard to the proposed site.
Howard said officials worked with an outside group called Hope Factory Production to identify a suitable site for the shelter and micro-home village.
He described a setup in which homeless individuals who arrive at the shelter and village might stay between three to six months in one of 100 planned micro-home units while they transition to permanent housing.
Residents would be expected to work with a case manager, Howard said.