Downtown LR outside the River Market area

[Architect]

5 hours ago, theman said:

According to Arkansas Business the Bank of America tower has a new owner. The plan is to invest around $2 million in the building for upgrading the mechanicals and general spruce up to get it back to class A office space then rebrand and start leasing space in the building.

I wish the new owner all success, but candidly, $2.0M in improvements would have to be spread pretty thin on a property that large.  Hopefully it doesn't need a lot of work.

[theman]

15 hours ago, Architect said:

I wish the new owner all success, but candidly, $2.0M in improvements would have to be spread pretty thin on a property that large.  Hopefully it doesn't need a lot of work.

I agree. I’m sure once they get into it the cost will be more than $2 million to get it back to class A space.

[Architect]

Arkansas Money and Politics (AMP) is reporting that Bank of America is moving its Central Arkansas headquarters out of their downtown high-rise.  What a depressing move...this bank's predecessor (Worthen) BUILT this building in the late 1960s/early 1970s.  First, it seems like a counter-intuitive move in the 2020s for employee recruitment to locate your offices in a suburban office building, and second, it may be driven somewhat by a lack of confidence in the new building's owner, whose experience is primarily residential development.  Still, wow...with all of the other positive news downtown, this is a step backwards.  I'm very disappointed with the decision BoA is making with regard to this.

https://www.armoneyandpolitics.com/bank-america-move-out-downtown-little-rock/?fbclid=IwAR0KaAyvD4LJXefuahs5q6cw4dvcF7z0bMzvvpb9wm_BM7BmLYnI2nYSMXY&fs=e&s=cl

[ecity3138]

Arkansas Times reports that Soul Fish Cafe on Main Street will be closing on August 7 due to not agreeing on lease renewal of the space. I’m surprised to see them shut down as the place has always been pretty busy the times I passed the place.

 

Source: https://arktimes.com/eat-arkansas/2022/07/24/soul-fish-cafe-to-close-in-august

[Architect]

1 hour ago, ecity3138 said:

Arkansas Times reports that Soul Fish Cafe on Main Street will be closing on August 7 due to not agreeing on lease renewal of the space. I’m surprised to see them shut down as the place has always been pretty busy the times I passed the place.

 

Source: https://arktimes.com/eat-arkansas/2022/07/24/soul-fish-cafe-to-close-in-august

Agreed...quite strange as I always found it to be pretty busy.

[ndark]

41 minutes ago, Architect said:

Agreed...quite strange as I always found it to be pretty busy.

Same here.  I was just there a few weeks ago and it was crowded, though less so than the other restaurants on the block.  Maybe the building is confident it can fill that spot easily or it even has another tenant interested.  

[MDC26]

8 hours ago, ndark said:

Same here.  I was just there a few weeks ago and it was crowded, though less so than the other restaurants on the block.  Maybe the building is confident it can fill that spot easily or it even has another tenant interested.  

May be jacking rent up too much. 

[Architect]

12 hours ago, MDC26 said:

May be jacking rent up too much. 

Maybe, but honestly, rent is not the largest cost of any tenant...it's compensation and other (food) costs, but I guess it can be a factor.

[MDC26]

1 hour ago, Architect said:

Maybe, but honestly, rent is not the largest cost of any tenant...it's compensation and other (food) costs, but I guess it can be a factor.

Margins can be slim on restaurants.  When food prices goes up, the employees need higher compensation, then your building owner increases the rent, that can hack into those slime profit margins.  

[Architect]

3 hours ago, MDC26 said:

Margins can be slim on restaurants.  When food prices goes up, the employees need higher compensation, then your building owner increases the rent, that can hack into those slime profit margins.  

Yep.  Good points.

[MDC26]

Fundraising started for illuminating the Broadway Bridge

https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2022/sep/07/illuminating-a-city/

[Architect]

2 hours ago, MDC26 said:

Fundraising started for illuminating the Broadway Bridge

https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2022/sep/07/illuminating-a-city/

VERY welcomed news...now if they'd only fix the lights on Two Rivers Park pedestrian bridge!

[Walls99]

On 9/9/2022 at 4:32 PM, Architect said:

VERY welcomed news...now if they'd only fix the lights on Two Rivers Park pedestrian bridge!

I agree. Now it's time to start actually illuminating the streets downtown at night. It's one of those things I've always noticed about LIttle Rock is how dark our downtown is in most places. Street lights, when done well, create a sense of place and beauty that lacks in many parts of downtown. Not to mention many people will feel safer with the extra light on their evenings downtown. Not that I think downtown is unsafe, but like Rex said in the column about lighting the bridge "perception is reality."

[Jen_SOMA_LR]

Does anyone happen to know what properties / land Stephens currently owns downtown?  It seems the most recent demos downtown where we gained new surface level lots were from them (RIP 2nd and Louisiana, was such a nice looking corner)

Second question, are there any plans for any sort of in fill projects in the near future for the current surface level lots we have downtown?  There are so many that if they were built on, downtown with the size of that grid would flourish, and I would love to see that for downtown LR.  

Thanks in advance!  

[Architect]

2 hours ago, Jen_SOMA_LR said:

Does anyone happen to know what properties / land Stephens currently owns downtown?  It seems the most recent demos downtown where we gained new surface level lots were from them (RIP 2nd and Louisiana, was such a nice looking corner)

Second question, are there any plans for any sort of in fill projects in the near future for the current surface level lots we have downtown?  There are so many that if they were built on, downtown with the size of that grid would flourish, and I would love to see that for downtown LR.  

Thanks in advance!  

Well, one of the parcel's downtown that was owned by Stephens was sold to the city and a large parking deck is under development.

[bigbank10x]

Five apartment projects downtown have sold in a series of transactions totaling more than $18.7 million

https://www.arkansasbusiness.com/article/142375/5-little-rock-apartments-sell-for-187-million-real-deals

Edited November 29, 2022 by bigbank10x

[MDC26]

Old VA Hospital Poised for Final Push

https://www.arkansasbusiness.com/article/142323/old-va-hospital-poised-for-final-push-in-2023?module=Previously+in+Arkansas+Business&page=Homepage&action=click

Will have 160 units consisting of 2,100 sqft 2-bedrooms, and 1,200 sqft 1-bedrooms.  

[Architect]

9 hours ago, MDC26 said:

Old VA Hospital Poised for Final Push

https://www.arkansasbusiness.com/article/142323/old-va-hospital-poised-for-final-push-in-2023?module=Previously+in+Arkansas+Business&page=Homepage&action=click

Will have 160 units consisting of 2,100 sqft 2-bedrooms, and 1,200 sqft 1-bedrooms.  

The redevelopment of this is a huge deal...and it sounds like they're doing it the right way (installing historically accurate windows, etc).

[ecity3138]

On 12/1/2022 at 7:56 PM, Architect said:

The redevelopment of this is a huge deal...and it sounds like they're doing it the right way (installing historically accurate windows, etc).

While I’m glad to see the former VA Hospital finally getting a redevelopment, I just can’t see people living at the building once it being converted into apartments . The developers of this project  first needs to remove all the asbestos (in the pipes) in the building which will be very expensive to remove. This was one of the reasons the former VA Hospital shut down and relocated to the current facility on I-630 next to UAMS. Also, there has been rumors of the building being haunted especially at night with weird noises heard throughout the building. Despite that, I’m glad the building is finally getting a facelift instead of just sitting there deteriorating.

Edited December 3, 2022 by ecity3138

[Architect]

On 12/3/2022 at 9:46 AM, ecity3138 said:

While I’m glad to see the former VA Hospital finally getting a redevelopment, I just can’t see people living at the building once it being converted into apartments . The developers of this project  first needs to remove all the asbestos (in the pipes) in the building which will be very expensive to remove. This was one of the reasons the former VA Hospital shut down and relocated to the current facility on I-630 next to UAMS. Also, there has been rumors of the building being haunted especially at night with weird noises heard throughout the building. Despite that, I’m glad the building is finally getting a facelift instead of just sitting there deteriorating.

Well, I think it's a given that the asbestos will be removed (by law).  As far as expelling the haunts...who knows?!  LOL.

[MDC26]

23 hours ago, Architect said:

Well, I think it's a given that the asbestos will be removed (by law).  As far as expelling the haunts...who knows?!  LOL.

Yeah, I don't think asbestos can be left in it.  Maybe they can get an exorcist to rid the building of any ghosts and ghouls.  I seriously doubt any haunting rumors are of any concern.  It is probably standard that any large abandoned buildings, especially hospitals and jails, are automatically considered "haunted."  

[bigbank10x]

Big Bad Breakfast is opening a second location in LR at 306 Main St., in the location once occupied by Soul Fish Cafe.  

https://arktimes.com/eat-arkansas/2022/12/15/big-bad-breakfast-opening-second-little-rock-location-downtown-in-former-soul-fish-space

 

[bigbank10x]

KATV is moving out of their building on 4th & Main after 50 years.  A special 1 hour show will be aired today 1/13 at 3PM on Channel 7.

 

 

[skirby]

2 hours ago, bigbank10x said:

KATV is moving out of their building on 4th & Main after 50 years.  A special 1 hour show will be aired today 1/13 at 3PM on Channel 7.

 

 

Too bad they didn't take any pride in the upkeep of this building while they occupied it. Maybe the Tech Park will find a good use for the building.

[Architect]

1 hour ago, skirby said:

Too bad they didn't take any pride in the upkeep of this building while they occupied it. Maybe the Tech Park will find a good use for the building.

Agreed.