Keith Richardson didn’t reach a settlement last month with the city of Little Rock over allegations that it blocked him from completing a $25 million low-income housing project in west Little Rock.
If you recall, back in November, RichSmith Holdings LLC and Ridge Construction LLC, both of North Little Rock, and The Peaks at Little Rock Ltd. filed a lawsuit against the city. That case in Little Rock’s U.S. District Court was filed after the city’s suspension of The Peaks’ building permits after construction had started on the project.
Richardson, an Arkansas developer and member/co-founder of RichSmith Holdings and Ridge Construction, told Arkansas Business in November that the project received all the necessary approvals to build 72 units in the first phase of the project at the end of Dover Drive, near West 36th Street and Shackleford Road.
Plans call for the second phase of the project, which was zoned for multifamily housing, to have 96 units.
After the lawsuit was filed, the projects received the building permits to move it forward, but the dispute remained. The defendants denied wrongdoing in the case.
Both sides attended a settlement conference on April 20 before Magistrate Judge Edie Ervin, but couldn’t reach an agreement.
The case will move forward. But both sides requested that Ervin remain available to help mediate the case, according to the court docket.
Construction on the first phase is expected to be completed before the end of the year. The second phase is expected to start in less than 60 days and will take about 14 months to complete.
