Developers are taking another shot at renovations to property on Main Street in Little Rock.
Main Street Lofts LLC sold the five-story building at 510 Main St. to Deep Creek LR LLC for more than $2.1 million last month, according to Pulaski County real estate transactions.
Deep Creek LR is based in Prescott, Ariz.
Developer Scott Reed of Reed Realty Advisors, a key investor in the Main Street Lofts project, was hesitant to provide information on the project last week.
In 2012, Main Street Lofts paid $1.5 million for four vacant buildings in the 500 block of Main Street. Plans were to turn the buildings into a mixed-use project of loft apartments and retail space as well as space for arts tenants.
The city of Little Rock unveiled plans in 2012 for an arts corridor along Main Street, designed to revitalize the area with living spaces and workspaces, along with attractions for pedestrians.
Progress on the project was slowed at one point by contentions that contractors were not paid.
But the biggest obstacle was a change in the state's historic tax credit law two years ago, Reed said.
In 2015, while work on Reed's projects was on hold, the state Legislature changed the tax credit law, Reed said.
"They changed it back [in the recent legislative session], so now you're starting to see activity again," Reed said.
Before the change in the recent session, the state law had allowed projects with up to $500,000 in eligible expenses to claim a 25 percent state tax credit, said Mark Christ, a spokesman for the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program.
In the recent session, that was increased to allow up to $1.6 million in expenses per project to get the 25 percent state tax credit, Christ said. That goes into effect July 1, he said.
Reed Realty Advisors has projects across the country and the Main Street development in Little Rock is the smallest, Reed said.
"[But] Little Rock is very important to me," Reed said. "We're working with the city and the mayor."
NLR's Faulkner Crossing growing
Rausch Coleman Arkansas Developers LLC sold property last month in North Little Rock to an affiliated company, Rausch Coleman Mid-Ark LLC, for $864,000.
The property is for construction of Phase 7 of Rausch Coleman's Faulkner Crossing housing project, said Rachel Grist, a spokesman for Fayetteville-based Rausch Coleman Homes. The subdivision can be accessed from Arkansas 391-Baucum Road in North Little Rock.
Rausch Coleman Arkansas Developers handles the company's land purchases and prepares sites for construction, Grist said. Then it sells the land to the construction division, she said.
More than 300 houses have been built in all the phases of Faulkner Crossing, Grist said. Generally, the prices are in the low to mid $100,000 range, she said. Prices for houses in Phase 7 will be between $130,900 to $150,000 with three to four bedrooms, she said.
"We've sold out the previous six phases," Grist said.
Rausch Coleman, the largest homebuilder in the state, also is building houses in Sherwood, Cabot, Beebe, Bryant, Alexander and Conway, Grist said. It also opened a new branch recently in Jonesboro.
The firm starts about 400 houses a year, she said.
Rausch Coleman has been in business for about 60 years and has built more than 20,000 houses. It also builds houses in the Kansas City area, Oklahoma City, Tulsa and in Texas, Grist said.
Washington firm buys local houses
J. Hoffman Properties LLC sold four houses in Little Rock and North Little Rock to Rayno Holdings of Bellevue, Wash., last month for $393,400.
Hoffman was organized in 2007 by James Hoffman, David Rapp and Brian Teeter.
J. Hoffman Properties specializes in buying distressed houses, often out of foreclosure, and renovating them, Teeter said.
"We make repairs and get the house back up and running, basically," Teeter said. "Then we get them rented and managed."
Hoffman has a property management company through the real estate firm of Adkins McNeill Smith and Associates, Teeter said.
Then Hoffman sells the houses to investors from throughout the country, Teeter said. Hoffman continues to manage the properties after they are sold, Teeter said.
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