Eureka Springs, Ark. hotel comes up with a creative solution to housing shortage

EUREKA SPRINGS, Ak. (KY3) - People moving to Eureka Springs often have a new job but don’t often have their own address. Affordable rental property is in short supply.

One of the tourist town’s largest hospitality employers, the Crescent Hotel, decided to make some space for them.

The hotel purchased a building that was once an assisted living facility and is now an apartment complex. The right and left sides are apartments and in the middle, a babysitting facility. The Crescent’s executive vice president decided transitional housing can help retain new workers.

Sarah Echelle is a cosmetologist at the Crescent Hotel’s Spa, she says the housing assistance has been a huge help for her.

“We had a terrible time finding somewhere to live when we got here,” said Echelle. “Something that I’ve loved about the hotel from the beginning is that it always feels like a family here. And we take care of each other so well. So this is just another layer to what the hotel does for their employees.”

The Executive Vice President of the hotel, Jack Moyer, says the company is converting what was an assisted living facility into small apartments.

“We want to be able to provide that service to individuals on a transitional basis,” said Moyer. “So they can come they can land in the space, safe, comfortable, affordable, and then ultimately move out of our space and into more permanent housing.”

Moyer also says he is working on more full-time childcare.

”We love the service that young mothers provide a very nurturing, very friendly, but a lot of times it’s difficult when you have a young baby at home, to enter the workforce and be able to afford childcare,” said Moyer.

For Sarah, she says it’s great not to worry about how she’ll take care of her kids while at work.

Moyer told KY3 that right now only half of the building’s apartments have been completed. They are expecting to finish renovations sometime in the summer of 2023.

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