So far, 11 signed up for Little Rock's tech park

First-phase leases to vary by tenant

Brent Birch, executive director of the Little Rock Technology Park, unveils some of the tenants Tuesday that will move into the facility in March.
Brent Birch, executive director of the Little Rock Technology Park, unveils some of the tenants Tuesday that will move into the facility in March.

The first 11 companies and individuals that will be housed at the Little Rock Technology Park were unveiled Tuesday.

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Brent Birch, Executive Director of the Little Rock Tech Park.

Those tenants will begin operating out of the park offices on Main Street in March, tech park Executive Director Brent Birch said. Combined, the tenants will generate about $10,889 in monthly rental income. More office space is available.

Construction on the 38,000-square-foot Phase 1 of the technology park began in April. Birch said the announcement of businesses to occupy the building was the culmination of work that dates back to 2005.

A mix of startups and established technology companies will go in at the tech park, which is being built in renovated buildings at 415 and 417 Main by East Harding Construction. About 50 employees are expected in the first batch of tenants.

"The wait to get to this point has been a long journey, but it's finally paying off," Birch said. "This is a much-awaited set of companies and we're pretty proud to be able to open our doors with them from day one."

Little Rock's Venture Center will be the largest tenant of the park, occupying 1,955 square feet of office space at a rate of $3,258.67 per month. The Venture Center's lease with the tech park is for three years with an automatic two-year renewal unless either party gives a six-month notice of termination.

The Venture Center offers support, work space and educational programs for entrepreneurs. It touts the creation of 153 jobs in central Arkansas and companies that have operated out of the Venture Center have raised $6.78 million.

Other entities will rent space under a "license agreement" that Birch compared to a gym membership. Tech park board members approved earlier this year short-term "startup grants" for office space to reduce expenses for entrepreneurs. The board hopes those companies will grow and have more money to spend on future long-term leases.

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PC Assistance, founded in 1994, will operate a satellite office at the park for $900 per month. The company's headquarters is in west Little Rock and will remain there with about six employees working downtown.

PFITR, an investment-focused startup, will occupy space for $1,000 per month with the rent incrementally increasing to $1,455 within a year of its stay. Corporate Insight Strategy will pay $700 monthly with its rates jumping to $1,165 by the end of its first year.

LumoXchange, a currency exchange company formerly based in Atlanta, will pay $750 per month, initially. Rent will increase to $1,050 by 2018.

Both LumoXchange and PFITR were part of the FinTech Accelerator program that brought 10 financial-technology startups to Little Rock for 12 weeks during the summer.

LumoXchange, which has a partnership with Little Rock's Bear State Bank, offers a low-cost process to send money online internationally. It is moving from Atlanta to Little Rock.

PFITR, which is based in St. Louis and is opening an office in Little Rock, provides bond and fixed-income pricing, compliance and controls for public funds investments.

Labscoop will pay $625 per month initially and its rent will rise to $900 if it stays into a second year. The company is focused on creating more efficient medical labs, and sister company Redoxica focuses on manufacturing medical devices.

Online marketing firm Sparkible Idea Co. will pay $450 per month. Database company iDatafy is paying $500. Clay Simmons, a senior manager for software engineering and development at Comcast, is paying $275 per month for office space and Accelerate Arkansas Executive Director Mary Lewis will pay $605 per month.

Flexibility on rental terms was what sold Corporate Insight Strategy founder Alese Stroud on the tech park.

"We're not having to sign our life away for three years that in worst case we might not need and best case we might need 10 times that much," Stroud said. "Flexibility is a huge decision point for us. It's fully furnished. Very contemporary. We're excited about the look and feel of the space. We're excited about the other tenants and the activity downtown."

Rent includes paid utilities 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays. Meeting space, event space, a break room and kitchen area, bike racks and locker rooms and showers also are provided to tenants.

Mayor Mark Stodola is counting on the tech park to continue downtown revitalization. In 2012, the park board voted 4-3 to select downtown after more than 30 other locations were considered.

Legislation to create the tech park was passed in 2007. Little Rock voters helped fund it with $22 million from a sales tax passed in 2011.

"It's really exciting to see it happen," Stodola said. "We are now in the hunt with many cities between the coasts that are developing an entrepreneurial ecosystem. It will allow us to compete here with these 21st-century technologies, ideas and creations that are going on throughout the country."

Once fully built out, the tech park will be an estimated $100 million project. Kevin Zaffaroni, chairman of the Little Rock Technology Park Authority board, said the park would take its time in planning a second phase, which will include another 160,000 square feet, including lab space.

"We want to make sure the people who are our sponsors and the community feel good about Phase 1," Zaffaroni said. "The beauty of the situation, we have a lot of options about how we go and how we configure future steps. We have a high-level vision, but it's not set it stone. It can be altered based on what we see."

Business on 12/07/2016

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