Planning commissioners approved a proposal Thursday to build a new surface parking lot in downtown Little Rock.
The 100-space lot at Second and Louisiana streets will serve employees of Stephens Inc., the privately held investment banking firm, and tenants in the 25-story Stephens Building at 11 Center St.
Second and Louisiana Properties LLC, a Stephens-linked company, bought and demolished the four buildings that once stood at the site, after obtaining a demolition permit from the city.
Lucas Hargraves, who represented the corporation Thursday, said there is a "critical need" for parking for the 700 employees who work in the Stephens tower and that the lot will be "aesthetically pleasing."
Commissioners who voted against zoning the site for the project and a resident who spoke in opposition said they were concerned about how another parking lot would affect the look and connectivity of downtown.
Ruth Bell of the Pulaski County League of Women Voters said a parking lot would not be compliant with the site's "urban use" zoning and that developers should instead focus on vertical parking structures with street-level retail spaces.
"The purpose of the [urban use] zoning is to facilitate pedestrian traffic, encourage retail business activity, provide a livable urban environment," Bell said. "I have to say, no matter how they're landscaped, when you've seen one parking lot, you've seen them all."
Van Tilbury, president and CEO of East-Harding Inc., said the Little Rock contractor doing the project took on additional expenses to prepare the site for possible vertical construction in the future, which could take place once market conditions are right, Hargraves added.
"We have retail space listed currently in the Stephens Building that we've not been able to lease," Hargraves said. "Obviously we have momentum on Main Street. That's something we're all excited about. We do have to deal with the realities of the market conditions and demand, and we don't know exactly when the conditions are going to be right."
Tilbury also noted that the buildings demolished had problems, including termites and asbestos, and likely would have remained vacant.
Three planning commissioners -- Craig Berry, Diana Thomas and Buleah Bynum -- voted against the proposed use.
"I'm really concerned about losing our natural visibility downtown," Thomas said. "We're the Natural State. When we have tourists and things come, and they're bombarded with seeing a lot of huge parking structures ... we want that foot traffic to increase that market value."
Others argued that limited and expensive parking might be keeping people from venturing downtown at all.
"The biggest issue that we had in leasing space downtown, it was not the commute ... it always came down to parking," Commissioner Todd Hard said of his experience working in real estate. "Those types of costs often kill deals when they're downtown."
Berry, as well as commission chairman Paul Latture, said a broader plan to address parking downtown is needed.
"We've lost the balance," Berry said. "Surface parking is winning downtown, and I'm not sure that's a good look."
Metro on 10/25/2019