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January 12, 2009

Rusk council accepts land donation, OKs apartments

By Cristin Ross

cross@jacksonvilleprogress.com

Rusk City Council on Tuesday morning accepted a donation of 13 acres and approved a plan to build an apartment complex on the site.

Council members met in a special meeting to discuss the donation of 13 acres, located at the intersections of Cherokee and McVicker and Cherokee and Jarrod streets, after receiving a letter of intent regarding the donation from James Perkins, president of Citizens 1st Bank in Rusk.

The site, adjacent to the Rusk Senior Apartments, has been earmarked for the construction of tax income credit low income apartments.

“This is the same company that just built those new apartments (Jacksonville Pines Apartments) in Jacksonville,” Rusk City Manager Mike Murray explained. “We’re extremely pleased they decided to come to Rusk. The mayor and the Rusk Economic Development Corporation (REDCO) really did an excellent job spearheading this for the city. And of course Mr. Perkins’ generosity is greatly appreciated, as well.”

Murray said Mayor Angela Raiborn and Rusk Chamber of Commerce and REDCO Executive Director Bob Goldsberry were instrumental in getting the company to consider Rusk as a viable location.

“We’ve always been actively pursuing ways to increase housing in Rusk,” Raiborn said. “We approached Wilhoit Properties after they opened the complex in Jacksonville and found out they had been looking at Rusk as a potential location already. We were able to work together to make their plans to come to Rusk concrete.”

Wilhoit Properties Inc. — a property management company based in Springfield, Mo. — opened Jacksonville’s facility in March 2008. Construction was handled by Zimmerman Properties Development LLC.

Raiborn and Goldsberry both said the city’s historic lack of housing is one of the reasons numerous employees of Rusk’s two largest employers — Rusk State Hospital and the Skyview/Hodge state prison units — work in Rusk but live elsewhere.

“Obviously, the impact of those people living here in Rusk would be a great boon to the local economy — more people living here, spending money here,” Goldsberry said. “Now we’ll be able to give them that option.

“This is an excellent opportunity and allows us to get our foot in the door to get additional apartments — some that don’t have the income limit and are open to all residents — built in the future.”

Like the Jacksonville facility, prospective tenants will have to meet specific income requirements to qualify for residency in the Rusk apartments, which are geared toward moderate and middle income individuals and families. Units are set aside for individuals based on their income group. The 30 percent income group units are designated for people who earn 30 percent or less of the median income in Jacksonville for their household size. The majority of the rooms target those who earn 60 percent or less of the median income for their household size.

“I contacted other cities that are home to similar Wilhoit Properties complexes, and every one of them are very pleased with the management of those apartments,” Raiborn said. “They are very nicely built, landscaped and maintained and managed well. One city, Brownwood, was in the same situation as Rusk, with most of their employees living somewhere else, and they said they are very happy. The popularity of the initial complex with the income restrictions actually helped Wilhoit decide to build additional complexes that don’t have restrictions on them. That’s what we’re hoping happens here.”

Construction is tentatively set to start by the end of 2010.

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