The five-story Thompson Building, considered a gem of the Central Avenue Historic District of downtown Hot Springs, will soon be renovated into a 62-room boutique hotel.
The developers -- Taylor-Kempkes Architects partners Bob Kempkes and Anthony Taylor, plus Robert Zunick -- bought the property in June 2014 in a $2.5 million transaction that also included the 1904 Dugan-Stuart Building at 256-264 Central Ave. Zunick is an investment adviser at Wells Fargo.
Last week, Harrison Construction Co. Inc. took out a building permit valued at nearly $5.7 million for work on the Thompson Building at 340 Central Ave., which was built in 1913. Another smaller building that once stood in its place was destroyed by fire in 1910.
The structure, with a glazed brick facade, was designed by George Mann, the same architect who designed the Arkansas state Capitol.
"It's going to be something that hasn't been seen in downtown Hot Springs in a long time," Taylor said of the project. "The whole idea that there are buildings that are available for purchase for restoration and renovation now is just a different game than the city's had going in the last 25 years."
He and his partners have signed a franchise agreement with Choice Hotels for a boutique hotel from the company's Ascend Hotel Collection. The only other Ascend hotels in Arkansas are the Hotel Seville in Harrison and Inn at the Mill in Johnson.
Taylor said there were no immediate plans for the Dugan-Stuart building, but that the group would be redeveloping that historic structure, as well. The trio bought the properties from the Wheatley Family Trust, headed by trustee Kenneth Wheatley.
Wheatley said the properties had been in the family for some 60 years.
"Our city is set for a Renaissance," Wheatley said. "We haven't done a lot on the downtown upper floors in a long time. The bottom floors are rented but not restored." He said he was "delighted" when he found a buyer willing to restore the Thompson building.
"Everybody wants to renovate a building, but they don't realize the expense and the cost," Wheatley said. "Then the question on the other end is, 'Will it be an investment that will pay off for what you've done?'
"There is a demand for better hotel rooms. I think this may be the catalyst for future growth."
Taylor said the developers are in the final stages of getting financing, which includes state and federal historic rehabilitation tax credits and a Small Business Administration loan.
The project, with scaffolding that will stretch to the top of the building, is seen as a glimpse of promise for Hot Springs residents and the 3 million or so tourists who visit the Spa City each year, said Forrest Spicher chairman of the board of the Greater Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce.
"The Majestic fire renewed a lot of interest in restoring or redeveloping downtown," said Spicher, market executive at BancorpSouth in Hot Springs. A portion of the Majestic Hotel complex burned on Feb. 27, 2014. Except for several bathhouses and work done on National Park Service properties, downtown structures have been largely ignored.
"This is a big deal," Spicher said of the Thompson building.
Taylor said the Thompson building was formerly offices for doctors who set up shop in Hot Springs so patients could take advantage of the medicinal benefits of the city's hot springs.
"This was before World War II and penicillin and all that," Taylor said "A lot of people came to take the baths, and they needed a doctor's prescription for their insurance company to pay for it."
At least some of that space was rented as apartments in the 1980s, said Liz Robbins, executive director of the Garland County Historic Society.
"It's going to be wonderful to have that building be beautiful again," Robbins said.
Businesses operating on ground level -- including a fudge shop, women's clothing store and art gallery -- will eventually be displaced by the hotel's lobby and a restaurant. The developers/owners are looking toward a summer 2016 opening date.
"We're not totally gutting the building, but it's a rehabilitation from the ground up," Taylor said. Each hotel room will be fashioned from three doctor's offices/examination rooms.
He said he and his partners had been looking at downtown properties for years but they rarely come up for sale. When the Wheatleys were ready to let go, they were ready to strike.
Business on 10/06/2015