Beauty and blight

LITTLE ROCK — This piece started with a question from the boss.

Actually, it was several questions in one e-mail about downtown Little Rock. He wanted to know about the latest shiny new penny of a condominium high-rise east of Cumberland Avenue and just south of the River Market, and who all was buying those condos and what effect it was having on the capital city's transforming inner core.

But nothing in Little Rock is simple. And trying to answer one question led to another and then another : until this piece wound up being not just about the River Market and upscale Moses-Tuckerville but the rest of downtown Little Rock, aka Old Downtown. Which is also full of questions and potential.

To start with those questions from my editor:

Who lives in the downtown condos in the River Market? LR residents or folks from out inthe state establishing a pied-aterre? How did [Jimmy] Moses and [Rett] Tucker fill up those condos despite a sinking housing market? How's RMT [their next apartment building, River Market Tower] doing?

To quote Roseanne Roseanna-Danna, you sure ask a lot of questions, boss. The condos in question are the 85 units in the 300 Third Tower, which is that high-rise with the copper trim that sits at the corner near the turn onto Interstate 30. If you enter Little Rock along I-30, you can't miss it. And the folks who bought condos there are a regular Who's Who of Arkansas.

Thumbing through the real-estate transactions, you'll find names like Madison Murphy of Murphy Oil and Steve Landers of Landers Auto and Charlotte Bradbury, who's the wife of Stephens Inc.'s chief operating officer, Curt Bradbury. Then there's the John Paul Hammerschmidt Family Trust and Rick Redden, an architect and developer in CentralArkansas.

Most notable, at least to sports fans, might be Joe Johnson, a former Arkansas Razorback who now plays professional basketball for the Atlanta Hawks. Johnson bought units 1401 and 1501-one condo atop the other with views of the Arkansas River that'll make you swoon-for $1.12 million.

There might be more power and influence at 300 Third than the state Capitol come time for the next legislative session.

So are these folks actually living in these condos?

According to Rett Tucker of Moses Tucker Real Estate, which developed 300 Third and most of New Downtown south of the River Market, 60 percent are primary residences, 20 percent are secondary residences and 20 percent are investments. Ninety percent of the condos are sold. So far this year, Moses Tucker has sales of some $31 million.

Is that good?

It's good to have any residents downtown, full-time, part-time or inbetween-time. It sure beats the usual tumbleweeds. Having people living there is the key to downtown's longterm success. Beer halls come and go-and so does the transient crowd that frequents them. But to make the capital city's downtown a stable success, you have to make it a neighborhood. People live in neighborhoods. Sixty-percent of capacity at 300 Third 24/7 and 365 is actually better than I would have thought. Tucker suspects that many of those folks will eventually move in for good, especially the empty-nesters-i.e., older residents whose kids have flown the coop.

How did Moses and Tucker fill up those condos despite this awful housing market?

It helps that your clientele has the kind of disposable income that isn't terribly affected by the ups and downs of the economy. After all, Joe Johnson pocketed a $20-million signing bonus with the Hawks. He's probably not going to need an interest-only loan. But there may be more to it than clientele. It might have to do with demographics.

According to David Dixon, an architect and urban planner in Boston who specializes in downtown revitalization, the face of the housing market has changed. At least nationally. In 1970, he says, 70 percent of people in the housing market were married couples with kids. Last year, that percentage was down to 25 percent. Which means there are more single men and women and single parents and empty-nesters in the market. And they tend toward condos, townhouses and loft apartments.

Also, Laurie Volk, who tracks demographic and urban trends as a market researcher for Zimmerman/ Volk Associates in Clinton, N.J., says the housing slowdown has not affected condo sales nearly as much as standalone homes. Even though the price of condos has risen twice as fast as that of single-family homes nationwide since 2000, which means that the demand for condos is strong.

Consider: Even in San Diego, maybe the most over-built market in the country, people are still buying condos. Months before the fall opening of a condominium high-rise there called The Legend, which overlooks San Diego's downtown baseball park, more than two-thirds of the 178 units had sold.

Could Central Arkansas be following the national trends? If so, then downtown's future is bright. "The demographics," Volk says, "are finally on the side of the city."

How's the River Market Tower doing?

Well, Tucker says his firm had its busiest sales month ever in August, when the housing market began to sour. According to a story by the Democrat-Gazette's Laura Stevens, 27 of the 140 units in the newest condo tower have been sold. The building is to reach 20 stories when it's completed, and construction just started this summer. Tucker says most of the condos are primary residences and, he adds, only one so far has been bought as an investment. Which is an encouraging trend.

What with the opening of 300 Third Tower, and construction of the River Market Tower, and the development of the River Market itself and much of the land east of Cumberland Avenue in New Downtown, or Moses-Tuckerville, is all that growth stunting real progress in Old Downtown?

What a windy question. The short answer is Not Necessarily-though it could if we let Old Downtown languish too long.

"It is not uncommon for a new neighborhood to kill activity in an older one," says Nader Tehrani, a Boston architect who's built in cities all over the world and teaches urban design. "Old neighborhoods often do not have the stock of buildings that can give the floor plates for new businesses and, as such, new buildings often win out. . . . Does Little Rock have the demographic might to support many active and vibrant centers? It may not be dense enough, so one neighborhood may upstage another in the process."

David Dixon tells me that the old formula for bringing back a city's inner core was to start with the older buildings,renovate them, rent them as apartments to recoup some of the investment, then flip them into condos-all the while hoping to attract developers willing to take a chance on new buildings. Little Rock is doing it backwards.

"In many ways," Dixon says, "it's more effective for Little Rock to begin its renaissance with new construction . . . . When you see high-income households buy in downtown, it does a lot to get people thinking about the viability of that area."

In short, people follow the money.

So how come everything's rosy in Moses-Tuckerville and withered nearer Capitol-and-Main, which ought to be the heart of downtown but looks more like an ugly scab?

That's the 64-gazillion-dollar question. Most folks answer it this way: We're waiting on Warren Stephens. As one Little Rock developer put it, "Downtown begins with Warren and ends with Stephens."

The CEO of the Stephens Group owns a considerable chunk of Main Street, including the old Center Theater, but he's got bigger whales to fry at the moment. He's about to reopen the Capital Hotel as something for the city to brag about. To judge by past performance, Stephens would seem a one-project-at-a-time kind of guy. Which is no criticism. When he does something, Stephens does it right.Exhibit A: Stephens Arena at UALR. Exhibit B: The Alotian Golf Course. Exhibit C: The Capital Hotel. Exhibit . . .

Anyway, at last report, when asked about his Main Street plans-specifically plans to refurbish the Center Theater-after a speech at the Clinton School, Stephens said it'll be a few years. "Every plan that comes up usually involves me putting up a lot of money," he said. "I'm hoping to find a plan that perhaps does not involve me putting up so much money."

So I put the question to Mark Stodola, the new and newly empowered mayor of Little Rock with a soft spot for old buildings and restoration.

This past summer, Stodola was one of eight mayors invited to a conference on city design held in Providence, R.I. The idea was for the mayor to present a project that he needed help with. He gave the planners what he called the Three Downtown Corridors of Main Street, and both Capitol Avenue and Markham Street heading west.

What did the planners tell the mayor?

The short answer is: You gotta get folks living downtown-and make it affordable for the young folks who are more inclined to live in an urban environment. They'll live there, not just visit.

The long answer? Stodola, ever organized, goes down his list:

(1) Run a code audit. Get more flexible rehab codes. Make it as easy as possible for developers.

(2) Create low-cost residential housing. How? See No. 1.

(3) Don't try to renovate more than 1,000 feet of anything at a time. If you do, you'll be overwhelmed.

(4) Get rid of skywalks and put folks on the street.

(5) The city has to be more creative in encouraging development.

Nos. 1 and 5 might interest Central Arkansas developers. One told me that a big reason so many developers avoid downtown is the high cost of acquiring old buildings, especially if they're owned by the city, and the lack of incentives and general help from City Hall.

The mayor has long been interested in downtown redevelopment. Stodola speaks from experience: He's twice served as the president of the Historic Preservation Alliance of Arkansas. Years ago, his post-college plans were either law school or urban studies. He chose law, but concentrated much of his practice on the issues of land use and real estate.

Plus, he's got a stake in the place. When he was young and single, he lived with a roommate at 1013 Scott Street. He still remembers the address. "I took my Irish Setter to MacArthur Park," he recalls. "We lived in an 1868 cottage that had not been renovated. Our rent was $95 a month, $47.50 apiece. But our utility bills were like $500 because we had no insulation."

Still, he loved living in the city. And he has his own wish list for a different kind of downtown: music at noon during lunch; a used bookstore with coffeehouse; more arts groups based in the city's core (he's talked to the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra about using space on Main for rehearsals); encouraging Pulaski Tech's cooking school to relocate on Main; enticing the Donaghey Institute of Urban Design back downtown; creating an Antique Alley close to the convention center; and putting more public art around town.

Long-time residents of Little Rock and regular visitors probably have a similar list. We all dream. But the big question remains: How does Little Rock attract investors?

"What's happened on Clinton Avenue is proof-positive investment can work," Stodola says. "We can balance what Jimmy and Rett are doing. The key is getting investors to dream and believe."

Stodola notes that his law partner, Graham Catlett, has considered turning some space in the Tower Building on Fourth Street into condominiums. And, yes, the mayor has plans to sit downwith Warren Stephens.

"Warren may be waiting on us," Stodola says. "Stephens always looks for partners."

Is it realistic to think progress can spread, that development near the River Market can bleed into Old Downtown?

It's happened before. Around the time of the Civil War, most of the city's major commerce revolved around the Arkansas River, at a port right behind where the River Market now stands.

Back then, what is now New Downtown was the bustling heart of the city. In the blocks east of Main, you could find the Pine Bluff Hotel, the German Hotel, saloons, grocery stores, an Anheuser-Busch brewing company, cotton markets and lots of residences. There was even a toy store. Where 300 Third now stands were two single-family dwellings. Now folks are living at that address again. Forward to the past!

What happened?

The railroad happened. When rail came along, the city no longer depended on the water for all its commerce. So downtown shifted. "The logical expansion was down Main," says Bill Worthen, director of the Historic Arkansas Museum. "Going south from the river is where the space was."

So, in a way, history could repeat itself?

Worthen nods. "Back then, the river delivered strictly goods," he says. "Now, the river delivers, what? Aesthetics?"

And when all the condo towers go up and Jimmy Moses and Rett Tucker finally run out of room, Little Rock may turn toward Old Downtown, where the space is.

Does Old Downtown have the building stock to come back?

Just barely. And we'll need a lot of filling in. The three downtown corridors of Main Street, Capitol Avenue and Markham Street bring to mind the gappy smile of a jack-o'lantern. We're missing some molars-not to mention some beautiful old buildings.

Recommended reading and leafing through: Little Rock, Then & Now, by Ray Hanley. It'll make even the most now-centered twentysomething feel nostalgic. Did you know the corner of Markham and Cross streets was once anchored by the old Hotel Mahoney, with its Tuscan columns and balcony? Now that corner is home to the Salvation Army. Be careful there after dark.

Perhaps the greatest architectural crime in Little Rock was the destruction of the Carnegie Library at Seventh and Louisiana streets to make way for the modern monstrosity that still stands there. In place of a Greek Revival beauty-complete with ionic columns, friezes and cornices-Little Rock got a concrete box with cement lace. Thankfully, the library moved to its new locale in the old Fones Building in the River Market, leaving the box to a second life as, fittingly enough, a data center.

Okay, Mister Pessimist, what do we have left?

A few days back, I invited Reese Rowland to walk through downtown with me and take stock. Rowland is a partner with Polk Stanley Rowland Curzon Porter Architects of Little Rock. His firm is responsible for some of Little Rock's newest, most impressive buildings-the Acxiom headquarters with its open arc embracing the river, Heifer International's new HQ in all its environmentally astute splendor, and its latest, the Arkansas Studies Institute, which is going up impressively along President Clinton Avenue.

As we start at the northernmost end of Main and walk south, Rowland immediately spots a problem. We're suddenly in a downtown built not to accommodate people, but cars. There's a parking deck on one side, surface parking on the other, two blocks of parking on the west side and one-way streets.

One developer had told me that tourists walking a city by foot, when they come upon a parking lot, turn around and go the other way. Because the lot signals the end of any real lifenearby. As for the one-way streets, Rowland points out that they give the impression that the city's major concern is shuffling people to the interstate and out of downtown as fast as possible.

As we walk along, though, Rowland perks up. The ornate Rose Building between Third and Fourth streets is gorgeous, as is the building that once housed Gold's just down the street. Rowland points out that many lovely old buildings are now encased in the metal facades that are the telltale signs of Urban Renewal. (Behind the sheetmetal front of the old Krazy Ray's Fashion is pricey limestone.) They could be easily restored.

Rowland points to the old Main Street Mall, noting that it had only two entrances, ignoring the street. Buildings downtown should open out.

The old Donaghey building could offer great lofts, and the Boyle building that connects to the old M.M. Cohn storefront that connects to the Arkansas Building and around the corner to the Lafayette building are prime real estate. Indeed, they've been on the redevelopment block by an out-ofstate firm as Mixed Use/Coming Soon for months now-with no noticeable progress. (Parking, however, does present a problem.)

A stretch of Seventh Street, where Ciao restaurant sits, has worked well for years-probably because there are no gaps between buildings. The denser the block, the easier it should be to transform and thrive.

So where do things stand?

On hold. But maybe not for long. In putting together this piece, I noticed something. Whenever I ask folks in Little Rock about downtown, no matter where they live, they have an opinion about it. And it's often a very opinionated opinion-passionate, pointed. People are at least emotionally invested. And that's a good start.

The other day, I talked to a young lady named Jessica Sardashti, age 24, who lives across from the Arkansas Arts Center in a part of the innercity that's been healthy enough. She considers Old Downtown part of her neighborhood, too. She enjoys The Rep and dining at Lulav, a restaurant along Sixth Street. She rides her bike at night and generally feels safe. Sardashti, a graduate of Hendrix College, first lived in the Heights when she moved to Little Rock, but headed downtown because she wanted a sense of community, especially with younger folks.

I ask her about the two downtowns, the copper towers and the rest, the beauty and the blight.

"If people want to invest [in downtown], they have to be wealthy," she says. "So it reinforces this dichotomy because people who really want to live here can't really afford it. I'd like to see more of a balance."

On her wish list? A movie theater, more arts and culture, more places for young folks to live. In short, she sounds like the mayor.

Will Old Downtown ever come back?

Probably not as it was in the old black-and-white photos taken when retail reigned. But the stars seem to be aligning nicely for some progress. Little Rock has a mayor with a passion for downtown restoration. The city has a benefactor in Warren Stephens, who never does anything that's not first-class, and who may soon be in the market for another major project. (The Capital Hotel re-opens next month.) And at some point, Jimmy Moses and Rett Tucker are gonna run out of room over there in New Downtown-unless they turn the airport into condos, too.

Things are changing. Aren't they always, for better or worse? I can remember a time when the only thing that the area now known as the River Market was good for was free parking. When I worked nearby in the early 1990s, I'd park along Rock Street because I didn't have to plug a meter or worry about traffic. Nobody ever came down there. Why would they? It was abandoned-a dump-and surely would be forever. I was wrong. Things are looking up. Way