North Little Rock's Downtown Development Board intends to purchase property adjacent to the city's planned downtown plaza in order to facilitate a potential private development on the plaza's east side.
The parcel the city intends to purchase to "have it tied up," city Chief of Staff Danny Bradley said, is about 20,000 square feet. It is part of a 141,000-square-foot city property the board would then be able to sell for the building development.
A client is in line to develop a multistory, commercial building to the east of the city-owned plaza planned for Main Street between Fifth and Sixth streets, Bradley told the board. Bradley wouldn't name the city's client but said an announcement could be made within two or three weeks.
"They [the developer] will not sign a letter of intent to purchase unless we have the entire property," Bradley said. "They want to buy from a single owner. It simplifies things."
The smaller parcel the board would acquire is owned by The Mill LLC investment group, headed by Harold Tenenbaum and managed by John Gaudin. It is a small portion of the former Prime Quality Feeds Mill site. The development board would buy the property f0r $16 per square foot, or approximately $320,000, according to a board resolution approved Thursday.
The city's intent, Mayor Joe Smith has said, is to develop an area of Main Street bordered by Fifth Street and Bishop Lindsey Avenue (Seventh Street), with the plaza anchoring the southwest corner. The Rock Region Metro trolley barn is on the northeast corner.
The estimated $4 million plaza will feature jetted fountains and be available for the city's Convention and Visitors Bureau to obtain revenue from rentals for private events.
The Convention and Visitors Bureau is to relocate to a planned building that will front Main Street just north of the plaza. The bureau is to partner with Taggart Architects and the Arkansas Automobile Dealers Association, with each group contributing one-third of the building's estimated $4.8 million cost, or $1.6 million each. The city also owns the corner property at Main and Bishop Lindsey Avenue, which is available for development.
The North Little Rock City Council created the Downtown Development Board last year for the purpose of ensuring the "proper and orderly development of the downtown area." The board has authority to borrow money and to acquire, sell, lease or manage property for development within downtown.
Bradley is the board's chairman. Other members are Council Member Murry Witcher, city Finance Director Karen Scott, Neighborhood Services Director Dan Scott and Economic Development Director Todd Larson.
Metro on 11/04/2017