Builder: 'High-end' digs going up in LR
What its developer describes as a "high-end apartment complex" is going up in west Little Rock.
Scheduled to open in July 2018, the $50 million project called Madison at Chenal will be on a 13.5-acre site at Chenal Parkway and Wellington Hills Road.
Huffman and Co. obtained a permit from the city for $20.3 million worth of work for the project that will eventually include 294 residential units, remote garage buildings and a clubhouse.
Amenities will include stainless steel appliances and granite countertops; a fitness center; a business center; a wine and poker room; a golf simulator room; a courtyard with several fire pits; a party veranda; and a pool.
The company, founded in 2011, focuses on multimillion-dollar projects in the both the public and private sectors. Public projects in its portfolio include university apartment complexes at Henderson State University and the University of Central Arkansas. Two years ago, it opened the 168-unit McKenzie Park Apartments at 14201 Kanis Road.
-- Noel Oman
Payday lenders sued over Arkansas loans
The federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau filed a lawsuit Thursday against four online payday lenders affiliated with an American Indian tribe, accusing them of deceiving Arkansas consumers and collecting debt that was not legally owed.
The loans exceeded Arkansas' 17 percent interest rate limit. The lawsuit also claimed the loans were illegal in 16 other states.
The four online lenders -- Golden Valley Lending, Silver Cloud Financial, Mountain Summit Financial and Majestic Lake Financial -- made $300 to $1,200 long-term payday loans with annual percentage rates from 440 percent to 950 percent.
"High-cost loans, whether short-term payday loans or long-term payday loans, put people in a cycle of debt," said Hank Klein with Arkansans Against Abusive Lending. "The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is defending Arkansas families against predatory lenders."
All of the lenders are owned by Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake Indian Tribe in Upper Lake, Calif.
-- David Smith
Arkansas Index down by 4.06 at day's end
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, fell 4.06 to 345.28 Friday.
For the week, 10 stocks gained and eight fell.
P.A.M. Transportation rose 20.7 percent for the week.
USA Truck lost 8.2 percent for the week.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business on 04/29/2017