Rock Capital Real Estate closed on the purchase last month of the historic Hall and Davidson buildings in downtown Little Rock, completing seven months of negotiations.
Rock Capital bought the buildings through a limited liability company, 201 W. Capitol LLC, for $2.3 million. Capitol Lofts LLC, the seller, bought the buildings for $850,000 in 2013.
Capitol Lofts bought the buildings with hopes of renovating them but the work never materialized.
Dan Roda, general counsel for Rock Capital Group, is confident Rock Capital will not have similar problems.
"We explored everything pretty thoroughly before we closed on the purchase," Roda said.
The group has plans to redevelop the buildings into a boutique hotel, with the brand to be announced soon, Roda said.
The buildings are listed on the national register of historic places.
"It is a historic tax credit deal," Roda said. "There are a set of federal guidelines ... for the rehabilitation of historic structures."
The developers will work to restore the original facade of the buildings as much as possible, Roda said.
Roda was hesitant to discuss the cost of the redevelopment.
But 201 W. Capitol LLC has a $13.6 million construction mortgage with Bank of the Ozarks for the renovation. It also assumed an almost $400,000 subordinate loan on the project from the Pulaski County Arkansas Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund.
Construction should start in late summer or early fall and should take about a year, Roda said.
The five-story Hall building was built in 1923. The three-story Davidson building was constructed in 1947 as an annex to the Hall building. The two have the same ceiling heights and have pass-throughs on the second and third floors, Roda said.
The buildings were used as contiguous properties for a long time, Roda said.
The development is the first for Rock Capital Real Estate, which was founded by the principals of Rock Capital Group and Capital Real Estate & Trust. The executive team consists of Roda, Jordan Haas, Blake Smith and Danny Brickey.
Along with other partners, they also have an interest in the Moore-Mathis building at 521 Center St., and the Sterling building at 229 W. Capitol Ave. The Sterling building already is undergoing renovation. The group expects soon to control nearly the entire block bound by Capitol, Louisiana, Sixth and Center streets, it said in a news release in February.
"You should start to see that whole block come back to life," Roda said.
The development and management team for the project also includes ReImagine Hospitality, Schulte Hospitality Group and the Alley family. Preliminary architectural work has been performed by both AMR Architects and Wittenberg Delony & Davidson, both of Little Rock.
Greenbrier sale
YanJun LLC of Little Rock paid almost $1.7 million last month to buy about three acres of forested property in the Greenbrier subdivision of Little Rock, which is at the foot of Cantrell Hill next to Allsopp Park.
The seller was McGill Terrace LLC of Little Rock.
Doug Buford, an attorney with the Mitchell Williams law firm in Little Rock, is the registered agent for both limited liability companies. Both were formed on May 1 and the purchase closed on May 8. Buford did not respond to efforts seeking comment on the deal.
Thomas F. "Mack" McLarty, the former White House chief of staff for President Bill Clinton, and Donna Cochran McLarty transferred the property on Greenbrier Road to McGill Terrace LLC on May 1.
Col. Glenn warehouse
United Commerce Centers Inc. sold an industrial site at 10118 Colonel Glenn Road in Little Rock last month for $570,000.
The buyer was West Holdings LLC of Lowell.
The almost two-acre site is home to a 21,400-square-foot office and warehouse for National Auto Parts. The building was constructed in 1976.
Rausch Coleman homes
Rausch Coleman Mid-Ark LLC bought 19 lots for its Graham Woods Phase II in Jacksonville last month. Rausch Coleman paid WD Development Co. LLC $437,000 for the property.
The subdivision is on Palm Street in Jacksonville.
Rausch Coleman plans to buy another half of phase II lots in July, a company spokesman said.
The second phase of the Graham Woods project will consist of single-family houses which will be rented, a spokesman said.
Fayetteville-based Rausch Coleman is the largest home builder in Arkansas, with houses in Northwest Arkansas, Alexander, Beebe, Bryant, Cabot, Conway and Sherwood. It has recently opened a branch in Jonesboro.
The firm starts about 400 houses a year.
Rausch Coleman has been in business for 60 years and built more than 20,000 houses. It also builds houses in the Kansas City, Mo., area, Oklahoma City, Tulsa and in Texas.
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