A mixed-use building with retail at the ground level and a three-level parking deck on top is planned for a parking lot at the corner of President Clinton Avenue and Rock Street, adjacent to the Flying Saucer.
The structure is only the third new building to be erected since the River Market Design Overlay District was established in 1996, and the parking lot is believed to be the last one suitable for building in the area.
The $3.8 million project by Heiple+Wiedower Architects -- dubbed Market Row II -- is for the Central Arkansas Library System and will be used primarily for parking for library patrons, said Tim Heiple, a principal at the architecture firm and the agent representing the library in its dealings with the city. The library owns the lot where Market Row II will go and maintains an underground lot there, as well.
All told, Market Row II will add 153 parking spaces at a time when parking is at a premium for the River Market District.
"They've been looking for parking for the library for some time, and this is the latest attempt to get some parking for them," Heiple said. The parking deck will include public and private parking, but will be used primarily for the library's special functions and staff and employees, he added.
"That'll be the last empty space left in the River Market ... so we've pretty much built everything out, any empty land," observed Heiple. That fact was confirmed by Brian Minyard, a planner for the city. The library is hoping to break ground within the next 30 days.
The project was brought up Tuesday before the River Market Design Review Committee's monthly meeting, where the group discussed, among other things, clarifying the height allowed for buildings within the overlay district.
A 60-foot maximum is now measured from the bottom of a building to the top. The Little Rock Planning Commission is expected to vote Feb. 26 on a measure that would allow buildings to be 60 feet from street level to the top. The Little Rock Board of Directors could vote on it as early as March, Minyard said.
Letters to 47 known property owners in the overlay district were sent to notify them of the clarification wording in the city ordinance regarding design and form in the River Market. Two owners sent emails supporting the change, and a representative of one was present at Tuesday's meeting but did not speak either for or against it. The idea was also discussed at the committee's November and December meetings.
"Let's get your money in line and let's do this," said Michael Hickerson, general manager of the nearby Courtyard by Marriott and a member of the committee, told Heiple.
The 13,000-square-foot basement of Market Row II will have 28 parking spaces for library employees, and the first floor will have about 4,500 square feet of storefront retail space and 20 parking places. Library patrons and others will enter the parking deck off Rock Street for access to 34 spaces on the second level, 37 on the third and 34 on top.
The parking will be hidden behind a facade that's the same as Flying Saucer's, complete with matching windows.
The height issue was brought up , Heiple said, because the owners may want to add another level with offices and apartments in the future.
Business on 01/14/2015