Smith

BMW will be coming to the car mecca of Colonel Glenn. Looks to be at the bottom of the hill below the Ford dealer. This is on top of Riverside Acura/Suburu being very close to finishing their locations behind the Valero station.

Also ate at Bonehead's. My catfish was pretty good but the seasoning on the fries was about the worst thing I have ever tasted on french fries. I agree it is a bit pricey for order at the counter type stuff.

Ch. 11 posted the first 6 stores last night. Nothing too exciting yet. - China Max - Dress Barn - Express - Gymboree - Kay Jewelers - The Children's Place The Grove area is coming along. The ground work is moving forward and the roadway has been laid out. It will come pretty close to the new exit. I was worried with that new ramp being so tall you wouldn't see much from 430 but the Grove buildings shouldn't really have an issue.

The latest article from the Dem Gaz had a statement from Warren Stephens that had the typical 'hey, I don't know what you are talking about' kind of feel. It doesn't really shed any light on the situation but one interesting line of the article caught my eye. It was a quote from NLR mayor Joe Smith, "I anticipate this is either going to die a quiet death or everybody will know what's going on in, say, 30 days from now." That is an odd statement to me. Looking ahead 30 or so days, I see the major Arts Center Gala which is the event that all the big movers and shakers attend to spend their money. Smith has also mentioned cantilever buildings over Riverfront Dr. That seems to me a very specific detail that would come from more than just casual conversations. Somebody knows something but I guess we will just have to wait and see.

David's Burgers is opening yet another location. This one will be in Maumelle in the the old National Bank of Arkansas branch at Country Club and Maumelle Blvd. Right across from the recently opened Marco's pizza.

Maybe there is some meat to this. Arkansas Times did a story with a lot more detail to the rumor. http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2015/02/02/whispers-grow-about-100-million-north-little-rock-arts-center-project

The Four Points is listed at the Clarion/former Hilton location on University.

This is just speculation. I read that private investors are part of the proposal. Warren Stephens owns some/most of that land between Main and Verizon. He is a well documented supporter of the arts and highly involved with the Arkansas Arts Center. Maybe the art museum mentioned is not a new one but the current one being relocated? I know there has been talks about revovations and expansions at their current location. That would be difficult being they are in the histoic district and would have more hoops to jump through. Maybe a move would be more cost effective? Again, specualtion only.

Over the last couple of nights, people in NLR have been recieving calls asking if they would suuport a tax increase for 1) police and fire retirement and 2) a new Convention and Arts Center. Does anyone know about this or recieved the phone call and can elaborate?

A Starbucks is going into the corner store front of the Market Place shopping center by Lilly's Dim Sum. Saw the coming soon sign.

Sky Zone Maumelle is now closed. Only lasted about 7 months. The owner blamed the market. I would blame the horrid location. I lived in Maumelle for a while and could not tell you where it was located. It was tucked away behind all the industrial stuff. It is a wonder anyone found it for 7 months. They cancelled all kinds of birthday parties and had to refund gift cards.

I read today that Ya Ya's is expanding with a new space called The Brasserie 2. It sounds more like a party room for the restaurant (1200 sqft, seating for 75) but should be up and going soon.

It helps that back in the mid/late 90s, they repaved that section of I-40. When they did that, they rebuilt and widened the bridges and overpasses which made it very easy for them now to add the extra lane. Pays to plan ahead.

This article is quite vague but does show that work on The Grove will be starting soon. The funniest part is that 500 trees will be planted where they just cut them down. http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/article/102249/gateways-grove-project-adds-to-2015-commercial-construction

That is the old Art Group Maumelle space. They moved to Pleasant Ridge Towncenter. I did a search of plumbing records and it looks like it will be a place called Nashville Rockin' Grill. They have a handful of locations. http://nashvillerockingrill.com/nlr.html

Bar Louie will be inside on the lower level near Dillard's (the old Luby's/cinema space). Opening is scheduled for 3/1/15. Will be 6000sqft with seating for 400 and an outdoor patio.

Dickey's Barbeque Pit is coming to a newly built strip center in front of Walmart. There is one in Bryant and couple up near Fayettevile.

David's Burgers got a plumbing permit for 6 Bass Pro Drive. The store itself is at 1 Bass Pro Drive.

from the AHTD website: "This project widens approximately 5.5 miles of Interstate 40 to six lanes, extending from the Interstate 430/Interstate 40 interchange to Highway 365 in Pulaski County. At the I-40/I-430 interchange, single-lane ramps will be widened to two lanes for the I-40 eastbound to I-430 southbound ramp and the I-430 northbound to I-40 westbound ramp." These ramps are awful at rush hour so this will be much needed relief when it's finished.

Some construction fencing and stakes are now around the corner lot at Warden and McCain. This should be the start of the BJ's Brewhouse.

Saw a site plan that I guess I haven't seen before. It shows Cavenders and an area called the Grove. Couldn't find any other mentions of what might locate there. http://www.gatewaytowncenter.net/thesite.html

Blue Canoe Brewing Co. is opening on 3rd Street as well.

It could have a whole section for Connie Hamzy. http://rulefortytwo.com/secret-rock-knowledge/chapter-5/sweet-connie/

Here is one article, I cannot find the other. http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/article/99661/declining-vacancy-rate-marks-retail-market?page=all The mention from the article "CVS Pharmacy and Dick’s Sporting Goods are scouting site possibilities, and eateries such as Red Robin and Joe’s Crab Shack are looking to make their market debuts."

A couple different outlets have very recently reported that Joe's Crab Shack and Red Robin were looking into locations for the LR market. Either or those should work well there.