‘Big Emma’ to Bring Affordable Housing to Downtown Springdale

Renderings of "Big Emma" development in Springdale (Images provided by Northwest Arkansas Council)

The Northwest Arkansas Council’s newly named workforce housing center, Groundwork, on Tuesday announced a 77-unit apartment complex would be built in downtown Springdale.

The announcement came during the council’s annual meeting Tuesday at the Momentary in Bentonville. The mixed-income “Big Emma” complex will be built at the corner of Emma Avenue and Park Street and will guarantee that 30 of the units are reserved for tenants who earn less than the median income of northwest Arkansas.

The project is funded by a $6.75 million grant from the Walton Family Foundation. The WFF had issued a report, “Our Housing Future,” in 2019 that said minimum-wage workers would have a difficult time finding affordable housing in the region.

The council created the workforce housing center in 2021 and hired Duke McLarty as executive director later in the year.

“Northwest Arkansas’ rapid growth has caused housing to become increasingly inaccessible for the region’s workers and their families,” McLarty said. “While growth is great news for the economy, more must be done to ensure there are adequate housing options for the workers that make up the fabric of the community. Groundwork’s first investment in downtown Springdale will serve as a model for future projects to provide more affordable housing options near core city centers.”

Big Emma will be designed by BiLD Architects of Fayetteville and was originally conceived by Shiloh Capital LLC, an investment fund led by Ken Hall, Don Harris and Tom Lundstrum. That group developed the Little Emma apartment complex, which is located near the proposed Big Emma site.

“Permanently affordable housing is crucial to providing homes for teachers, nurses and other workers we all depend on,” said Robert Burns, director of the Walton Family Foundation Home Region Program. “Big Emma will be a model for the region, ensuring northwest Arkansas remains a great place to live and thrive.”