Construction on a $4.4 million residential and retail development at 1424 S. Main St. in Little Rock will begin in 2017, developer Matt Foster said Friday.
Approval from the Capitol Zoning District Commission was the regulatory hurdle facing the 25,353-square-foot project. Commission members unanimously approved the development, set for the South Main Street district, or SoMa, during a Thursday meeting.
"Everyone involved in the project lives in the Governor's Mansion District. We all work in this neighborhood. We care about the neighborhood," Foster said. "We love the neighborhood. We want to add retail opportunities. We want to keep the flavor in the SoMa district as it is now."
Sergeant Architecture submitted plans on behalf of Foster in October. The development will take the place of the Miracle Wash coin laundry and include 11,333 square feet of retail space on the ground floor with 10,720 square feet of residential on the second floor.
Foster purchased the property for $500,000 in September. About $4 million will be spent on construction, which should take about a year, Foster said.
MWF Construction, owned by Foster, will serve as contractor.
Plans for the project include rooftop patios, residential balconies and an eight-vehicle garage. The five planned condominiums will range in size from 1,700 square feet to 2,860 square feet.
Retail space included in the plans ranges from 883 square feet to 2,568 square feet for seven businesses.
Boyd Maher, the Capitol Zoning Commission's executive director, said the development is the largest new project in the South Main Street district since USA Drug, now Walgreens, was built in 2010. Discussion on the project centered on design details and one neighbor's concern that noise from rooftop balconies might be heard on Louisiana Street.
Maher said the commission was told that positioning of an elevator shaft would help provide "a sound break." A property owner's association also will be established to help regulate rooftop patio use.
"There was some discussion items, but no controversy," Maher said. "We aren't requiring any changes from the plan that was submitted."
Foster said he has been looking for business owners who might be interested in locating a coin laundry somewhere nearby to replace the one that will be demolished for the new construction. So far, that effort has been fruitless.
"I'm trying to help facilitate a laundromat owner to expand their business downtown," Foster said. "We're doing the best we can to address that need."
Business on 11/19/2016