Little Rock Green Builder Profiled in Green Building & Design Magazine

A prominent Little Rock developer denizen of the sustainasphere, Greenmore Homes, is profiled in the November issue of “Green Building & Design” (or, to those of you in the know, “gb&d”).

Greenmore Homes is the brainchild of Scott Reed, a transplant to Little Rock via the West Coast. The project profiled is referred to locally as “Eyesores to Energy Stars.” It’s a simple idea – purchase dilapidated homes and land in one of Little Rock’s depressed yet historic neighborhoods, renovate and revitalize the homes and the neighborhood using local labor, and Neighborhood Stabilization Program II (NSP II) grant funds, and with an emphasis on sustainability, and then return the homes back to first-time home buyers and young professionals in the neighborhood. The homes will be built according to innovative plans that use standardized “panels” to reduce waste, maximize the use of materials, and lower labor costs. And the homes feature finishes that normally bear much higher price points – granite countertops and stainless steel appliances, for example.

It may be cliché, but…um…if the shoe fits, wear it: it’s a win-win – a landmark advance for the Little Rock sustainasphere, a worthy use of public funding, a political darling, a boost for a neighborhood desperately in need, and, hopefully, a little bit of profit for the developer.

Yes, there is some risk involved. Quieting title on these old properties can be a nightmare. Getting NSP funding presents unique, and often daunting, challenges. These projects demand project leaders with insight, patience, political acumen, and charisma. And, of course, there’s no guarantee that the real estate market will support the project – or, indeed, that there will be a market.

But, in the end, the “Eyesores to Energy Stars” project embodies the potential just waiting to be tapped in the Little Rock, and Arkansas, sustainasphere. I’ll bet it’s kinetic.

Read the article here: http://gbdmagazine.com/digital-edition/, at page 89.

(Department of Full Disclosure: Greenmore Homes is a client of my firm, Williams & Anderson PLC, and we provide counsel to the Eyesores to Energy Stars Project.)

(Department of Blatant Awareness: See above!)