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The Stephens Empire: Big Plans for Downtown LR?

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Aporkalypse City

Aporkalypse

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An interesting quote from a recent article about Warren Stephens in the Arkansas Times: "Stephens insists he does not have an overarching plan or specific goals for developing his downtown properties. Rather, he is waiting for good ideas and other sources of financing." It says he thinks the city of Little Rock should commit some money to the development of downtown. I don't see this happening anytime soon and I'm not sure what kind of tax supported projects he is thinking about.
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turboturtle Hamlet

turboturtle

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An interesting quote from a recent article about Warren Stephens in the Arkansas Times: "Stephens insists he does not have an overarching plan or specific goals for developing his downtown properties. Rather, he is waiting for good ideas and other sources of financing." It says he thinks the city of Little Rock should commit some money to the development of downtown. I don't see this happening anytime soon and I'm not sure what kind of tax supported projects he is thinking about.
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turboturtle Hamlet

turboturtle

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From CentralArkansas.. in post to another Stephens sub-topic...

"I've thought for several years that Warren Stephens had big plans to leave his footprint on downtown Little Rock. He's had plenty of opportunities (along Main, the lot by the Capitol Hotel, etc.), and hasn't made any major developments yet. What is perplexing to me is that the timing seems to be perfect. Everything is turning to gold in that area, and it seems that a critical mass is so close to being reached that you can pratically taste it. Yet, still no move.

So, I will end with the question I started with: will Stephens ever make a move? Or is it just blind hope on my part?"

It has been five months since Skirby posted the above summary of an Arkansas Times article about the Stephens plans (or lack of plans) for downtown Little Rock. At least one condition is that "the City of Little Rock commit some money to the development of downtown." I would interpret this as meaning that the City needs to do something along the lines of what NLR did for the ballpark. There has been a boon in the growth of Downtown. Id' expect new announcements to wane for a few years, barring some monetary commitment from the City.

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theman Hamlet

theman

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An article in the Arkansas Dem-Gaz said that the $24 million makeover of the Capitol Hotel will not be finished until the fall. The room count has been reduced from 126 to 96 rooms because several rooms have been combined to make larger rooms. Also several new kitchens have been added to the hotel. Guess the plan on pulling in a lot of meetings, receptions, etc.

I wonder with all of these changes will the Capitol get a 5 star rating?

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skirby Town

skirby

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An article in the Arkansas Dem-Gaz said that the $24 million makeover of the Capitol Hotel will not be finished until the fall. The room count has been reduced from 126 to 96 rooms because several rooms have been combined to make larger rooms. Also several new kitchens have been added to the hotel. Guess the plan on pulling in a lot of meetings, receptions, etc.

I wonder with all of these changes will the Capitol get a 5 star rating?

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Aporkalypse City

Aporkalypse

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I wonder how much this projects total cost will end up being? There has been a considerable amount of revenue lost with the hotel being closed for this period of time. As of now the cost is running about $250k per room. Do you think they will go up on their room rates when the hotel reopens?
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hartford Whistle-Stop

hartford

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downsizing the amount of rooms to focus on meeting space does not make a lot of sense to me. With only 96 rooms that limits the types of meetings/groups that would consider the hotel. With that few rooms only very small groups would consider having meetings there. Small groups mean less people to spend money there.

Maybe this will spur the development of another nice hotel downtown. I know the Peabody is overbooked a good portion of the time. They have to walk some of their guests down to the Doubletree sometimes because they are oversold. The Marriott down in the River Market is full most of the time too. My company has tried to book meeting space in that hotel several times only to find out they have no space available. I know the new Hampton Inn will help, but what are the odds of downtown LR getting another hotel the quality of the Peabody any time soon? Any thoughts?

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Architect Town

Architect

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downsizing the amount of rooms to focus on meeting space does not make a lot of sense to me. With only 96 rooms that limits the types of meetings/groups that would consider the hotel. With that few rooms only very small groups would consider having meetings there. Small groups mean less people to spend money there.

Maybe this will spur the development of another nice hotel downtown. I know the Peabody is overbooked a good portion of the time. They have to walk some of their guests down to the Doubletree sometimes because they are oversold. The Marriott down in the River Market is full most of the time too. My company has tried to book meeting space in that hotel several times only to find out they have no space available. I know the new Hampton Inn will help, but what are the odds of downtown LR getting another hotel the quality of the Peabody any time soon? Any thoughts?

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Aporkalypse City

Aporkalypse

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Many people suspect that the newly cleared lot adjacent (east of) the Capitol Hotel is planned by Stephens as a third first-tier convention hotel. Wouldn't it be nice as a multi-use highrise (hotel on lower floors, condos above) similar to First Security?
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LIT uPP Whistle-Stop

LIT uPP

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Warren Stephens will speak at a brown bag lunch, May 24th, in the Clinton School of Public Service, concerning the future of the Little Rock metropolitan area. Among some of the topics mentioned are the impact of the announced buyouts of Alltel and Acxiom and the unrest in the Little Rock School District. I would be willing to bet that he also touches on his belief that LR and NLR should merge into one city. Might he also address future plans for Main Street? I would think he would

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skirby Town

skirby

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Maybe Mr. Stephens will have some extra cash to put towards his Main St. redevelopment. After all Stephens was involved with both Alltel and Acxiom. Stephens Inc. was one of the acting financial advisors to Acxiom concerning the buyout. Mr. Stephens is a board member for Alltel.

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Architect Town

Architect

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Warren Stephens will speak at a brown bag lunch, May 24th, in the Clinton School of Public Service, concerning the future of the Little Rock metropolitan area. Among some of the topics mentioned are the impact of the announced buyouts of Alltel and Acxiom and the unrest in the Little Rock School District. I would be willing to bet that he also touches on his belief that LR and NLR should merge into one city. Might he also address future plans for Main Street? I would think he would
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