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Main Street, Downtown Little Rock.


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Given Moses Tucker's track record, my hopes are moderately high for a good result from this Main Street project. This would be a "Plan B" of sorts after The Arcade didn't materialize in its intended location, yes?

The Arcade is a project still waiting to be built. It includes an auditorium/theater that will be a part of the Central Arkansas Library System. CALS will be holding a tax vote in a few months and if it is successful then money will be available for this project, as well as a parking deck which can be converted in the future for use by the Arkansas Studies Institute.

The big push for Main Street right now is the effort to get Pulaski Tech to move the construction of it's culinary school from southwest LR to Main Street. At this time no one has come up with a plan to provide the additional funding the move would require.

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  • 2 months later...

This is very exciting since this is one of my favorite buildings in downtown Little Rock and it is a significant location on Main Street that will almost definitely help encourage more redevelopment near it. This is one less empty lot and one less empty building on Main Street, and in a pivotal location that I think will help encourage infill between it and the River Market as well as it and The Rep.

Article: http://www.arkansasb...02.54928.142647

Highlights:

...historic Blass Building in downtown Little Rock will begin in June to convert the former retail property into 100,000 SF of office space, 20 loft-style apartments and more.

A 300-car parking garage will be built at the northeast corner of Fourth and Louisiana streets as part of the project.

More details from the Dem Gazette:

http://www.arkansaso...in-street-plan/

$20 million plan ... roughly 100,000 square feet of office space. Around 65,000 square feet has already been leased to the state of Arkansas

Retail space on ground floor preserved/rejuvenated: Picture_359_t630.png?30004eeab9fb5f824ff65e51d525728c55cf3980

And the full building (and annex) plan in pdf format: http://media.arkansasonline.com/news/documents/2012/03/07/Blass_Packet2.pdf

Looks great to me.

Now if only the developer behind the K-Lofts can get their ducks in a row and get his project (s) moving along again...

Edited by thewizard16
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I agree that this in one of the better buildings in downtown. The Arkansas Times post on this has something very interesting. The main tenent will be Arkansas Child Support Enforcement division which is now located in the old Arkla building, which is owned by MT. The post says that MT should release development plans for the Arkla building within the next six to eight months and therefore will not be looking for new tenents for the building.

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I agree that this in one of the better buildings in downtown. The Arkansas Times post on this has something very interesting. The main tenent will be Arkansas Child Support Enforcement division which is now located in the old Arkla building, which is owned by MT. The post says that MT should release development plans for the Arkla building within the next six to eight months and therefore will not be looking for new tenents for the building.

I did forget to mention that. My post was getting longer and longer as I read the different articles so I just quit adding to it. :D I'm curious as to what they'll have in store for the Arkla building since it's a bit outside of the immediate area they've so far chosen to work in. What's even more interesting is that they're pursuing these projects immediately while the Arcade project appears to still be somewhat on hold. I have to think that must be because the financing sources for the Blass project are much more immediately obtainable than funding for a new project in the River Market, but I hope it's still somewhere close to the top of their stack of projects. Ideally this Blass project will spur more interest in the buildings very close to it though and help get things moving on Main St. since the K-Lofts have stalled and that developer's ambitions for the other buildings on Main aren't likely to happen in the short term.

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I did forget to mention that. My post was getting longer and longer as I read the different articles so I just quit adding to it. :D I'm curious as to what they'll have in store for the Arkla building since it's a bit outside of the immediate area they've so far chosen to work in. What's even more interesting is that they're pursuing these projects immediately while the Arcade project appears to still be somewhat on hold. I have to think that must be because the financing sources for the Blass project are much more immediately obtainable than funding for a new project in the River Market, but I hope it's still somewhere close to the top of their stack of projects. Ideally this Blass project will spur more interest in the buildings very close to it though and help get things moving on Main St. since the K-Lofts have stalled and that developer's ambitions for the other buildings on Main aren't likely to happen in the short term.

I think the Arcade develpment is waiting on the bond election this coming Tuesday. If approved the funding for the auditorium/theater part of the development will be in place. As for the Arkla building it is located between the River Market Tower and the Rainwater Lofts building, which MT is redeveloping into 12 apartments.

Edited by skirby
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  • 1 month later...

It's been quiet on here lately... but there's more good news for Main Street! This project has been in progress for a bit but there hasn't been a lot of information on it that I've seen so far. The Exchange Bank Building (423 Main Street is the address I believe) is undergoing a renovation to office space. Not mixed use or anything, but more people working on Main each day is great news when it comes to encouraging other businesses to locate there. This is close to the Blass Building project and near the Porter's/K-Lofts project (when it gets moving again), so there's a little bit of momentum developing there now. Now if that lot across from it and Blass would just get a nice big project underway...

Article: http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2012/apr/27/historic-main-street-building-gets-61-million-over/?f=news-arkansas

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  • 2 months later...

MT has announced that financing has been finalized and construction will begin August 15 on the old Blass Building. As a result there will be two redevelopment projects occuring on Main, the Blass Building and the Exchange Bank Building.

The Blass Building.

img0165cg.jpg

The Annex where 19 apartments will be located.

img0167gm.jpg

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The west side of the 500 block, the stalled out Layfette Square project, has been purchased by Scott Reed. Reed is the developer of the K-Lofts across Main from the Blass building redevelopment now going on.

I'd feel more confident about his abilities to take on another project if he'd finished the K Lofts project even close to the schedule he had predicted and that he and Porter's hadn't squabbled like that, but hopefully things work out for him. Anyone taking an interest in redeveloping downtown buildings is pretty good in my book, as long as they don't take on more than they can handle and leave things tied up going nowhere for years to come.

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I'd feel more confident about his abilities to take on another project if he'd finished the K Lofts project even close to the schedule he had predicted and that he and Porter's hadn't squabbled like that, but hopefully things work out for him. Anyone taking an interest in redeveloping downtown buildings is pretty good in my book, as long as they don't take on more than they can handle and leave things tied up going nowhere for years to come.

A little more about the redevelopment. It will include ground floor retail and loft apartments above. Something interesting will be a rooftop venue.

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A little more about the redevelopment. It will include ground floor retail and loft apartments above. Something interesting will be a rooftop venue.

I like that idea a lot. The white building (don't remember the name of it) within that original project would have pretty good views from the roof. Plus it's a beautiful, large building. It reminds me of a couple buildings in St. Louis that were renovated into retail plus loft apartments.

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A little more about the redevelopment. It will include ground floor retail and loft apartments above. Something interesting will be a rooftop venue.

The plans call for 100 apartments.

Now if someone would rehab the Donagey Building Main Street might be ready for Stephens to do something with his property.

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Downtown development buzz in Arkansas Business: http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/article.aspx?aID=132498.54928.144641

A couple exciting excerpts:

Only one vacant Main Street building — the Donaghey Building — between Capitol Avenue and Sixth Street isn’t under contract with a buyer who has renovation plans, she said. She declined to share details of other pending projects.

A group led by Reed closed a deal last Thursday to buy the buildings at 500, 510, 514 and 524 Main St. The seller was Lafayette Plaza LLC. Once renovated, the upper floors will be residential and the ground level commercial, Reed said.

I'm still concerned about Reed's ability to pull off new residential development with his past issues, but I am keeping my fingers crossed for him and his partners. (And Moses Tucker and their work as well of course.)

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  • 4 weeks later...

Looks like work on the Main Street Lofts project, known in the past as Layfette Square, will start soon. The group doing the redevelopment will receive a $900,000 + loan from the Pulaski County Brownfield Revolving Loan Fund, According to the Arkansas Business work will start this month and the developers will spend over $10 million on the project. They hope to start renting apartment sometime next year.

On Stptember 18th the city will announce details of a grant from the NEA to develop an arts district on Main north of Capitol.

Looks like Main Street maybe coming back with the following projects: Main Street Lofts, K-lofts, rehab of the Exchange Bank building and the Mann(Blass) Building. How long will it be before the vacant property owned by Stephens see some activity?

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  • 2 weeks later...

Arkansas Business reports that a new burger place will be opening in the 600 block of Main sometime next year. The location has been leased at 608 Main and will become home to a pilot project to be named Fresh Home Burgers. The owners of the restaurant are out of LA.

Edited by skirby
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This week a plan ws announced for an Arts District on Main Street but I have been unable to find out many details. I found out that the vacant lot next to KATV is being turned into a parking lot for the Exchange building. My hope this will be short term. One of the few items released about the Arts District plan involved KATV. Earlier in the year there was talk KATV was looking for a place to move to but now it looks like they will rehab thier building. Maybe they will open it up to Main Street. It will be interesting to see what Main Street looks like this time next year.

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  • 2 months later...

Construction activity is ongoing of Main. The Exchange Building is still a work in progress. A new sigh for K Lofts. The 500 block is being worked on as well as the Mann Building on the 300 block.

 

K Lofts

 

 

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New parking lot on the 400 block.

 

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500 block of Main.

 

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Mann Building on the 300 block.

 

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While not on Main the parking deck for the Mann Building under construction.

 

img0007uj.jpg

 

 

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  • 1 month later...

In today's ADG there is an article about The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra relocating to the MM Cohn and Annex buildings. The buildings will be home to its headquarters and practice facilities. Also, in the article there is word of a commericial buisiness to be located nextdoor in the Boyle Building. The article hints that a hotel might be located in the 12 story building.

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