Grace Ulch
Jan 5, 2024 Updated Jul 12, 2024
MONROE (WKOW) — The city of Monroe hasn’t seen any growth the past few years, but neighbors and city officials are hoping that could soon change.
Friday evening, the city, in partnership with Haven Home Development, broke ground on their newest housing development. City officials suspect say a lack of housing could be a contributing factor to their nonexistent growth margins.
“There’s been a lot of need and talk about housing in the city of Monroe and the ability to expand outside of current boundaries,” Monroe City Administrator, Brittney Rindy, said. “So, to have this opportunity, where we’re having a new development in a new area on the outskirts of town, it’s really an exciting time. I think they’ll bring some new variety of housing to Monroe that we haven’t seen.”
Monroe’s Haven Hills Estates will start with four quadplexes.
“The opportunity came up where I talked to the city and said that I’m ready to invest in Monroe and start doing some development,” President of Haven Homes Development, Tommy Taylor, said.
Taylor says there will eventually be a mix of single family homes, duplexes and quadplexes making it easier for families of any size to live and work in Monroe.
“Hopefully this attracts a lot more young families and also keeps people in Monroe,” Taylor said. “This is a great town. [It’s] got everything going for it and we would love to see more people stay in Monroe.”
“There’s a whole world out there for us,” Monroe Mayor, Donna Douglas, said. “That’s why I’m just so proud to be a part of it today.”
Douglas says she’s already thinking of the day when she can drive up the hill and see what are now renderings become real homes.
“It’s a perfect place to start a new subdivision,” Douglas said. “We’re so happy to be working with the people that we are.”
City officials say the new development’s growth will be determined by demand. So, it will only be four quadplexes to start but as more people choose Monroe, they’ll continue to build.