Earle all in on little custom homes

Earle all in on little custom homes

Mayor: ‘ I don’t see where we can go wrong’

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Earle is working out the details of an agreement which will let a Wilson manufactured homebuilder put a model home on a city owned lot to entice people to move to Earle.

Last month the council heard from Turrell Mayor Dorothy Cooper and Billy Joe Denton, a Wilson farmer who owns Little Custom Homes.

Denton’s company manufactures pre-built, affordable homes at a factory in Osceola, and has built homes in nearby Keiser and Bassett which have lured new residents and nearly doubled the population of those depressed delta communities.

Cooper, who toured the homes and is trying to get some built in her city, said she and Denton believe Earle would also benefit from the homes.

Earle was hard hit by a 2008 tornado which led to a massive loss of population from which it is still struggling to recover. Many residents never came back and much of the damaged homes were never rebuilt and are now overgrown or burned out shells.

“What we would like to do is, if you can work it out, we would like property to set a house on,” Cooper said. “It would them be used as an example where people could come by and see it.”

The homes range from 720 square feet to 1,300 square feet, and sell for $60,000 for a one bedroom up to $100,000 for a four bedroom model.

The homes take about 40 to 50 days to build and are then transported to the building site, which in most cases, was a former overgrown or abandoned lot.

Mayor Sherman Smith said the city owns a lot on Bailey Street which could be used for a model home.

“We talked about the possibility of giving them that property to use,” Smith said.

Smith said he drove by the Little Custom Homes that were built in Bassett and was impressed. Getting more housing in Earle and cleaning up abandoned lots has been a top priority for Smith since taking over as mayor.

“They look nice,” Smith said. “They look better than probably seventy percent of the houses in Earle. I don’t see where we can go wrong. It’s not costing us anything. It’s a plus all the way around and it’s only going to help us.”

Smith said since the city can’t just give away city owned property, they will need to work some type of agreement with the company for the city to be compensated for the value of the lot if the home is sold.

“The law doesn’t allow us to give it away,” Smith said. “But I don’t think it prohibits us from giving it for a display. We would have to come up with a price to show that we are not giving it away.”

“We would love for you to look at doing a house,” Cooper added.

Smith said he will work with City Attorney Davis Loftin on putting together an agreement to allow the project to go forward.

“We need houses,” Smith said. “We need people. I don’t think that lot has been used in 30 years. I am sure there is a way we can work it out. We will have something more concrete for you next month.”

By Mark Randall