$6.97 million cost of North Little Rock office complex; building is part of plaza project

Board approves contract for city’s Visitors Bureau

An architect’s illustration of the planned Argenta Plaza District in downtown North Little Rock.
An architect’s illustration of the planned Argenta Plaza District in downtown North Little Rock.

A proposed office building to house the North Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau and two private firms near the Argenta Plaza will cost $6.97 million, according to a contract approved Monday by the North Little Rock Downtown Development Board.

The board also approved financing a maximum $7.5 million "at the best available interest rate" for the construction, including a contingency to cover unexpected costs.

The 600 Main Building, as it's called, is to be part of a complex surrounding North Little Rock's $5.36 million downtown plaza under construction off Main Street downtown.

The Convention and Visitors Bureau will take up the three-story building's first floor, and co-tenants Arkansas Automobile Dealers Association and Taggart Architects will be on the second and third floors, respectively. All three will share in the costs.

After the Downtown Development Board meeting Monday, representatives of all three groups signed off on the new cost, said Danny Bradley, the board's chairman. The contract is with Nabholz Construction Services of Little Rock. Taggart is the architect for both the 600 Main building and Argenta Plaza.

The North Little Rock City Council increased the city's lodging tax last year by one-half percent. The extra tax is earmarked at least in part to pay for the Convention and Visitors Bureau's portion of the new building. The lodging tax is collected by the Advertising and Promotion Commission, which manages the Convention and Visitors Bureau.

"We hate that [the building cost] went up, but we feel like we have enough funds and have everything under control to proceed with the project," said Bob Major, chief executive officer for the Convention and Visitors Bureau. "A lot of it, too, will be how we finish out our area [of the building]. But we've looked at it and we're still comfortable."

The $6.97 million accounts for all costs, according to a breakdown provided by the board Monday, including land, parking lot construction and the building's interior that each tenant will be responsible for individually.

The core and shell of the building -- not including the interior build out -- is listed at $4.83 million. The core and shell cost had been estimated by city officials at $4.8 million as far back as late last year, with the three tenants share then projected to each pay $1.6 million.

Construction bids for the core and shell were $5.16 million, according to the figures provided by the board, but adjustments in some materials to be used were changed to reduce that cost, Bradley said.

"There were no structural changes in the building," Bradley said. A fourth-floor rooftop deck that was planned also was retained because the three partners didn't want that eliminated, he added.

"Everything is coming in higher," Bradley said in reference to any current construction project, noting that tariffs are raising the costs of materials and competition in central Arkansas construction. "All the contractors are busy.

"We hope construction can start in the next 60 days or so, or at least the preparation for it to start," Bradley said.

Metro on 10/16/2018

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