Arkansawyer

Thanks for the picture, skirby. I'm glad to see that the new houses will fit into the existing neighborhood, even though the one in the picture is a little plain-Jane.

This will give Conway approximately $2.8 million in state turnback funds between now and the 2010 Census. Conway spent $600,000 to do this one, but it's still getting a net gain of $2.2 million. I wonder if Conway will earmark the money for specific plans, or just throw it into a general fund. I wonder what it would take for Little Rock's MSA to become known as Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway. Conway seems to be quickly becoming a more independent city. I know that an MSA can't have more than three cities in the name, which may explain why NWA's MSA is doesn't include Bentonville in the name.

That reminds me of another issue unique to border towns. Bigboyz05, could you explain the tax situation in Texarkana? Arkansas has a grocery tax and Texas doesn't, but according to the latest information I saw, Arkansas with a lower state sales tax rate. I've asked a friend from Texarkana about it, but not recently. Are exceptions made for it being a border city?

Turboturtle already posted this, but I'm giving it a topic unto itself. Here's the article again from Arkansas Business. Here is some of the key information. As part of a "grand scale" renovation that will begin this month, managers say that they plan to add at least one new store. Last year CBL & Associates Properties Inc., the largest owner of malls and shopping centers in the Southeast, purchased the mall for $77.5 million. The article mentions the new competition from Midtowne Little Rock. I wonder how much of an impact that had on the decision to renovate Park Plaza.

Is it just wishful thinking on your part that Midtowne gets a Whole Foods Store, or is there reason for your hope? That would be an awesome area for one. An Eatzi's would be a huge coup for Little Rock, but Little Rock is an unlikely market. They have locations in Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Rockville, MD, and Chicago. I really enjoyed the one in Dallas. I don't regularly go to Wild Oats, but I have noticed a decline.

I saw the rendering of this project in a magazine, but it wasn't very large. I've looked on the internet for a better one, but haven't had success. From what I could tell, a modern glass entrance will be added onto the building closest to the Main Library, where there is now a small parking lot surrounded by a fence.

You're right about that area of Main Street. It is a nice destination area, but I was just thinking that there isn't a lot of development for a stretch in the middle. That could be changing soon though. We know that Warren Stephens has big plans for Main Street, and eventually more development will take place there because the River Market District is becoming close to fully developed. The route won't be a reality for at least a few years still, so a lot could happen. Even if there is some dead space left, the route would actually attract more development.

University Mall has to go. The land it's sitting on is much more valuable than the building. Indoor malls are going out of style anyway, and Park Plaza is a nice mall that's very close to it. I like the kind of development that's going on with this Midtowne project.

Here's the map as an inset. A route running west from Main Street to the Capitol and then looping back east is a high priority. It looks like the loop would run on Fourth Street and Capitol Avenue. It's interesting to note that another high priority route runs from Main Street in North Little Rock to Alltel Arena. That could be a really cool route if new development replaces those pawn shops. I'm a bit surprised that the proposed route along Main Street in Little Rock runs south of I-630.

#4 Arkansawyer, Little Rock

You could travel through Warren on the way from El Dorado to Monticello, and take a different way home to hit Fordyce and Camden. It probably wouldn't take very long to look around some of the smaller places.

Last I saw, Iriana's was looking for a location near the River Market District. I believe the Heritage Building was mentioned as a possibility.

That piece of land is suited for something better than the Continental Building, so hopefully there are future plans for some kind of development there besides a parking lot. I'm hoping that Stephens is just putting in a parking lot so the land isn't idle until the time for a new project. In the meantime that area certainly needs more parking.

Ozark is where the bank started. I'm not sure when it moved to Little Rock, but it wasn't a very long time ago. I've posted this map of the bank's locations before, but it's hard to keep up with things on here, so here it is again. It may be a bit outdated as it doesn't show a location planned for the Arkansas side of Texarkana.

That building is the Federal Bankruptcy Court.