$5.8 million renovation set for LR’s Albert Pike


Albert Pike Hotel on Scott St in Little Rock
Albert Pike Hotel on Scott St in Little Rock

The buyer of the Albert Pike Residence Hotel in downtown Little Rock plans to spend about $5.8 million to renovate the 84-year-old historic building.

BSR Trust of Little Rock and Montgomery, Ala., is in the process of buying the hotel from Philip Jones of Jonesboro.

BSR estimates that it will cost $485,000 per level to renovate the hotel’s 10 floors and basement, according to building permits issued by Little Rock. Empire Corp., a Knoxville, Tenn., builder known for its work on apartments, assisted-living centers and commercial properties, will be the building contractor.

The closing on the hotel’s sale, at 701 Scott St., should occur within the next few weeks, said Dan Oberste, general counsel for BSR.

The intention is for BSR to renovate the Albert Pike, Oberste said. BSR has similar projects in its 10-state area, Oberste said.

Josh Mandell, senior acquisitions officer for BSR, declined to give more information about changes at the hotel because the purchase hasn’t closed.

According to the building permits, the work will include adding new fire sprinklers, a generator, improving the mechanical system, painting and adding new fixtures, said Tony Bozynski, director of planning and development in Little Rock.

“They are going to do a complete renovation of the rooms,” Bozynski said.

Appliances, toilets, shower heads and ceiling fans also will be replaced throughout the hotel, Bozynski said.

Tenants at the hotel have been told that work will be done floor by floor so no residents will have to move out, said Tony Scucchi, who has lived at the Albert Pike for nine years.

No one with BSR or the hotel would say how many low-income residents live at the hotel.

Summit Housing Partners of Montgomery, Ala., and Bailey Properties of Little Rock merged in December last year to form BSR Trust.

BSR owns or manages 111 multifamily properties and 18,689 units in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas. It has combined assets of more than $1 billion.

Bailey Properties - and its predecessor - was one of the largest single-family real estate developers in Arkansas and later became one of the state’s largest multifamily investors and managers. Among the developments by the company, led originally by Virginia Bailey and her husband, Dr. H.A. Ted Bailey Jr., were the Foxcroft, St. Charles and St. Thomas neighborhoods and the Bowman Curve shopping center, all in Little Rock.

Business, Pages 23 on 04/30/2013

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