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ecity3138

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Posts posted by ecity3138

  1. 3 hours ago, LRretail said:

    The short answer to your question here is that the price point for acquisition of the property was too high for a single use big box retailer.  Only the development of a center would appeal to financial backers of the development.  Unfortunately for Park Plaza, I think the success of this development will mean certain trouble for Park Avenue and Park Plaza alike.  You're right.  Traditional retail is suffering huge and will continue a downward trend for the foreseeable future.  Unless Simon Malls or someone reinvests a TON of money into Park Plaza, you will unfortunately see it deteriorate.  This Midtown project will not garner all of the retail businesses and so we will witness further fracture in the retail centers of the city.  

    The Raising Cane's is going either in Lot 2 or Lot 4 of the site plan as can be seen in this link.  THE%20DISTRICT%20AT%20MIDTOWN.pdf?v=1560

    Lastly, ecity I'm not entirely sure who you spoke to at the developer but they either don't want to disclose who they have or...maybe something else happened.  Not sure.  I'm not at liberty to disclose brands but they do have sincere interest if not a fully developed deal for a 104  room hotel property on the NW corner of the development site.  They also have two restaurant deals done.  If you'll look at their flyer they are mainly after a mass of restaurant deals.  Which no less than 6 drive thrus shown on the map.  It will remain to be seen if the City of Little Rock will grant that many.  It will also depend on what the neighbors say since Briarwood and other Midtown voices are always heard so loud.  Keep in mind how big Park Avenue was scheduled to be until the POAs started protesting. 

    The names of the restaurants (Uncle Julios Mexican Restaurant was listed as a possible tenant) was at one point listed on the website until it was taken down. I was actually told by the developers (during the early stages of development) at one point of them working on some restaurants but nothing has yet happened nor has there been a public announcement of what tenants or hotel would locate at the center even though it’s been two years since the developers bought the property. The two restaurants deals are most likely existing brands in the market (Chili’s maybe) rather than new to the market type brands. I’m predicting typical fast food restaurants (Burger King, Raising Cane, etc)  at the center which is nothing special unless you account for something like In & Out Burger though we have enough burger places in the market. 
     

     

  2. 5 hours ago, Architect said:


    Well, crap. I really liked it, but didn’t go that often. However, it always seemed fairly busy.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

    It seems like a lot of restaurants has closed in the Little Rock area the last two years. La Madeline was in a bad location and should have been in a more visible location such as the former Mimis Cafe location across from On the Border location.

  3. 17 minutes ago, Architect said:

    The ENTIRE interior was gutted...which was pretty sad.  Perhaps that's necessary, but a lot of history was lost there...plus I thought it had good bones for a similar venue.  Oh well, maybe it will be something fantastic!

    I hate that they didn’t keep at least some remnants of Cajun’s decor. I hope a unique venue such as House of Blues or a big national brand will take over the space. 

  4. 1 hour ago, ArkansasTraveler said:

    Arkansas Business is reporting potential new development of the former Cajun's Wharf building, possibly as soon as November.  Like Cajun's, the plan is to use the neighborhood landmark as a restaurant and entertainment venue.

    I’ve posted this under the Restaurant Development in Little Rock discussion thread. Maybe a  venue similar to Cajun’s would open in that spot. Just hope it’s something unique like Cajun’s was and not just a Mexican restaurant.

  5. 9 hours ago, LRretail said:

    It's supposed to be a freestanding Japanese restaurant...cause there's not enough of those around already or anything....  But hey at least it's not another Mexican place, pizza joint, bank, or burger place.  It's also not 100% set in stone.  

    Not too impressed with another Japanese restaurant. I was expecting something unique like Ruth Chris Steakhouse that was rumored to go in the former Del Frisco Grille.

  6. 7 hours ago, adman0468 said:

    Dillard's. I don't think Macy's was ever tied to it.

    You’re correct. Dillard’s was suppose to come to the Promenade but back out at the last minute. 

     

    I’ve recently contact  mall management regarding new development at the center and was told that a tenant will anchor the shopping center on the Southwest Side of the shopping center across from Home Goods but could not released any other details at this time. I’m wonder what tenant could it be?

  7. Just saw an updated site plan of the development which  shows an upscale apartment  in the works of being built next to the Tru by Hilton hotel. Personally, I disagree with this decision due to the fact that no one would like to pay upscale prices in a commercial zone area. We got enough upscale apartments (ex: Bowman Pointe, Fountains Bleau, Park Avenue Lofts) around the city.

  8. So now that Trader’s Joes is in a process of opening a West Little Rock location, will this encourage other retailers (ex: Costco) to make their first Arkansas debut in the city. I still would love to see Costco open a location in West Little Rock or near the Gateway Town Center.

    • Like 1
  9. 5 hours ago, Walls99 said:

    My point exactly.  One thing that Little Rock is lacking, in my opinion, is a centralized upscale retail center.  The problem we face is that all of our retail is so spread out among different decent shopping centers (Park Plaza, Midtowne, Gateway, Shackleford Crossings, Promenade, McCain, etc.).  It isn't that any of these are bad, but I would have preferred if Little Rock had done some better planning and maybe thought about going all in on a large, upscale center that would have been a combination of all the amenities of the above centers.  I recall a recent visit to Des Moines (similar in size and importance to their respective state) where they had done exactly that.  Their center was a combination indoor-outdoor mall featuring a movie theater, Apple Store, Cheesecake Factory, among other things.  I was very impressed by it and have wished there was something like that in Little Rock ever since.

    At one point, Simon Property was going to build a 1.1 million square foot mall similar to one in Des Moines, IA at the site that Shackleford Crossing occupies but private organizations and some citizens oppose the plan stating it would hurt Park Plaza and the now defunct University Mall. The Summit Mall was supposed to have JCPenny, Sears, Dillard’s, and at one point Neiman Marcus. I really wish Simon would make the Summit Mall development a reality.  We would have stores and restaurants still not present in the market such as Cheesecake Factory, Trader Joe’s, etc. The Shackleford Crossing Center is a failed development especially  the main corridor of the development between Wal- Mart and JCPenny is dead with some of the spaces had not been occupied since the shopping center opened in 2007. Park Plaza, the only traditional indoor mall in Little Rock beside MCCain Mall in North Little Rock, still have a decent selection  of stores despite the competition from nearby shopping centers but it’s too small especially since H&M took majority of the space. The Promenade At Chenal is a  nice upscale neighborhood mall but it’s too remote and too small compare to the Summit Mall proposal. A lot of high profile retailers and restaurants prefer to be in a large shopping mall where the foot traffic is more dense and visibility is greater.

    • Like 1
  10. On 3/14/2019 at 1:31 PM, SangreRaVen said:

    They need to add another food option to the bottom level though. There are only a few offered and two of them are closed on Sundays :P

     

    -R

    I agree. There’s very limited food options at the mall right now. I hope they open at lease one decent full service restaurant in the mall for mall patrons to eat.

  11. On 3/31/2019 at 9:58 AM, Arkanzin said:

    I thought Wilson's Leather went out of business 20 years ago.  Then I keep seeing it at outlet malls.   They always had an abundance of signs liquidators like to use, so maybe that's why I thought they'd been running the world's longest going out of business sale.

    I hardly ever see anybody shop in this store at the time I visit the Outlet Mall. I wish mall management would bring  Lego Store, Disney Store, or some sort of non-traditional stores not seen in the metro to the Outlet Mall. This would bring more foot traffic to the mall.

  12. On 4/7/2019 at 10:06 PM, Walls99 said:

    Sounds like another WLR strip center trying hard to not sound like a strip center...as if there aren't any of those around

    I really don’t think the city needs another new strip center with mostly empty spaces. We got plenty of that already. These developers need to focused on redevelopment existing properties (ex: Shackleford Crosssings is a prime example) before building new ones. Does anybody know the plans to redevelop the former Mimi’s Cafe and Romano’s Macaroni Grill space? Would be great for casual restaurants like TGI Friday’s, Red Robin (don’t understand why there’s only one location in the Little Rock area) or  locally owned establishments  take over these two buildings. 

  13. 12 hours ago, Arkanzin said:

    On the way to work today, I noticed that Salad Works will be opening a location in Wellington Center on Chenal.  I've long wanted a GrabbaGreen-type restaurant and this looks to be similar.    This is a first location for Arkansas.  The nearest one appears to be Irving, Texas.  

    Saladworks

    This is great addition to the Little Rock dining scene as the city needs more healthier alternatives to what is currently present. I originally hope a similar establishment, Salata, would open up in Arkansas but this concept would be just as good. I’m hoping Saladworks, Salata, or GrabbaGreen Type Restaurant would open in the Gateway Town Center development possibly next to Smoothie Cafe.

    On 4/5/2019 at 9:57 AM, Arkanzin said:

    How about Ralph & Kacoo's?  They are just down the road in Bossier and have other locations in Louisiana, Texas, and Alabama.  

    I’ve looked on their website and saw the menu is pretty good. Either Ralph & Kacoo’s or Pappadeaux would be a great to a city who’s lacking in true  seafood restaurants. 

  14. 3 hours ago, SangreRaVen said:

    I would think if by some chance we ever get a Pappadeaux they would want to go for a location that is highly visible with lots of traffic access such as Gateway Town Center or even somewhere near District at Midtown ect... Build the building how they want it and have great access to everything they need to get ppl in.

     

    -R

    I agree that a restaurant like Pappadeaux will fit perfect in the Gateway Town Center development especially next to Hooters which originally was suppose to be a restaurant. This would be cheaper for them to build a brand new building in a high profile site than to renovate  a 44 years old building which would be very expensive even for a chain like them.

     

    I have put a request for them to open a location in the Little Rock area since there’s no major seafood restaurant remaining after Cajun’s Wharf close on June 1 other than Red Lobster and Arthur’s Seafood. I provide a link below for anyone who want to see them open a location in Arkansas.

    https://pappadeaux.com/contact-us/

  15. On 4/2/2019 at 2:00 AM, theman said:

    The article said that Cajun’s is 20,000 sq ft. That’s large for most modern restaurants. Plus the article said it’s an old building that needs quite a bit of work so either the owner of the building or whoever may take over the space will have to spend a lot of money to bring it up to date.

     Some  Pappadeaux locations in major cities are about that size. If Pappadeaux or any similar establishment take over the space, they can downsize the space to at least 12,000 square feet.

    On 4/1/2019 at 8:50 PM, LRU1967 said:

    Pappadeaux taking the space would be great.  How big are their restaurants? Are they typically as large as Cajun's?

    Some Pappadeaux locations are about that size depending on the market. If they or a similar establishment take over the space, then they can downsize the location to at least 12,000 square feet by doing a complete overhaul of the building. 

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