Rock Region Metro is discussing investing in the Little Rock Port Authority area by buying a facility that would serve as administrative offices and possibly a shared-use building for companies nearby.
Chief Executive Officer Charles Frazier said Tuesday that the transit agency is looking at buying a 4.97-acre property and a 40,224-square-foot facility at 7773 Sloane Drive for potential use as additional offices, a training facility and a commercial transit center.
A market study and analysis will be completed and presented to the board first, he said.
Frazier said 7,000 people come to the port area daily and it projects that number will reach 10,000 with new businesses moving to the area.
“There are a lot of projections for growth out there,” he told the Rock Region Metro board. “This would be a commercial transit center with space that could be rented out for different uses. This is a partnership with the Port Authority that we shouldn’t pass up.” Amazon last year confirmed plans to build an 826,000-square-foot facility on an 80-acre site at the Port of Little Rock. It will be the first fulfillment center in Arkansas and will employ more than 1,000 people.
Becca Green, a spokeswoman for Rock Region Metro, said the concept of the agency engaging in a transit-oriented development project has been in place since at least the completion of the agency’s MOVE Central Arkansas plan from 2015.
“The downtown Little Rock bus and microtransit station, the River Cities Travel Center, was the site of the studioMAIN and Little Rock Regional Chamber’s 2016 Pop Up in the Rock tactical urbanism event, designed to reimagine urban spaces,” Green said in an email Friday.
“Since then, and pre-pandemic, Metro has engaged in a comprehensive transit-oriented development study for the station, as well as other areas within our transit network that make sense for a possible mobility hub or revenue stream. The study is still underway and includes a market analysis of the station and the Little Rock Port Authority site.” Green said a 2020 study the agency conducted shows business and community leaders know there is a need for public transportation at the port. She said the potential site could serve as a closer connection point for existing and future transit services within the port and surrounding areas.
Frazier said the facility also would address some of the needs at Rock Region Metro.
“The choices we have right now are to develop the current office at 901 Maple St. [in North Little Rock], which is both expensive and we are not sure if it will meet our needs,” he said.
The agency needs to double its office space, and the facility at the Port Authority would do that as well as give the agency space to expand its operation.
“It would give us training space for operators, which we currently lack,” Frazier said. “We currently don’t have an electronic bus simulator, which is a large simulator. This is one of the needs that could be met there.” Frazier said the commercial transit center also would create an opportunity for revenue coming into the agency.
“We could own this facility and lease space out for the unmet needs in the area,” he said.
Rock Region Metro has identified such needs as medical services, workforce development, workforce housing, transportation and food, banking and retail options.
The price of the property isn’t known at this point, but Metro already has the grant funds to apply for the project.
Green said a final decision might be made this summer.
“We’re still completing a formal market and cash-flow analysis and will not make a decision before we have considered this critical information,” she said.