Hillcrest_LR

Austin has an IKEA but I guess Austin is amost 3x Little Rock metro population

I believe the misconceptions may be related to crime statistics which, according to one national survey, have LR listed as one of the 10 most dangerous places to live . I believe LR was ranked 5th or 6th.

I seem to remember that in the original design, retail or restaurant space was provided along President Clinton Blvd. Is the ASI filling the entire complex now? If so, I do hope the library doesn't get that corner parking lot because this was not the original intent of that portion of the River Market. And I am a big library supporter. Oops,Just read the article in today's High Profile Section which mentions an ice cream shop and other retail. Never mind...

Maggiano's will not be in Little Rock anytime soon. I think Memphis is online for one in 2009 or 2010. A friend of mine is the manager of a restaurant in the Brinker Corp.

According to the Arkansas Times, a European-style cafe by the owner of Boulevard Bread Company in the Heights will be going into that unique building that once housed the wallpaper company at Markham and Kavanaugh. It will be a bohemain-type cafe and wine bar at night.

I don't know about Razorback Laundry. I didn't go down Markham but the Wallpaper store and the the hospice resale shop facing Kavanaugh are now empty storefronts.

I noticed on my trip back to Little Rock,having moved to Dallas in December, that the triangular shaped building at Markham and Kavanaugh is now completely vacant. Any news?

The Bombay Company space is open and could be where this Forever21 is going.

An entry on the Arkansas Times blog reports a major development announcement on Friday: "The place: Third and Rock (currently a parking lot). The announcers: Moses Tucker Real Estate, joined by the mayor and reps of East-Harding Construction and AMR Architects." This is the high-rise everyone has been talking about the last few weeks. I wonder how many stories this building will be.

In today's Style section of the AR Dem-zette about renovating buildings for the arts, was a mention that the old Rye Furniture building was to be torn down next year for a 'planned high-rise development'. That property is bordered on the south by the Wyndham Hotel and on the west by the new baseball park.Is this on anybody's radar?

The tugboat, Hoga, is now docked in San Francisco. A quote of $395,000 was presented to deliver it to NLR.

Where is Gramercy Square going to be located? My guess is the large space at the SW corner of the building where Bombay is located. There is a great space there for outdoor dining.

The article states they will be 2 stories, built in 3 stages of 10 with a total of 30. These sound like upscale townhouses.

Originally, the center was to be built on the NLR side of the river directly across from the presidential library.

That sounds like the area that was devastated by the tornado that hit downtown in 1999. Many historic buildings were damaged or destroyed. It is now mostly vacant lots with a smattering of houses left. That neighborhood lost its character on that night. That rendering shows a house that is in scale for that area. It would be great if that area was redeveloped with a funky mix of architecture. It would be great infill because it is on the edge of the Quapaw Quarter and would not hurt the integrity of the overall district and could be a boon to those empty blocks south of I-630.