DHS revives plan to sell Ricks Armory to UAMS

Friday, July 25, 2014

The state Department of Human Services agreed Thursday to restart negotiations to sell Ricks Armory to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, a plan that had been delayed by the state National Guard's request for funding to relocate from the facility.

In 2013, UAMS approached the Guard -- which leases the armory from the Arkansas Department of Human Services -- with a proposal to purchase the 5-acre property as part of a planned multimillion-dollar expansion project. UAMS is looking to buy 18 acres from the Department of Human Services, which leases out the armory and several surrounding buildings in the southwest portion of the UAMS campus.

The 18 acres was recently appraised at about $4 million, said Mark Kenneday, vice chancellor of campus operations at UAMS.

Members of the Department of Human Services State Institutional System Board decided Thursday to continue negotiations to sell the property now that the Arkansas National Guard is moving out of the facility.

The Guard announced last week that the 39th Infantry Combat Team, which was headquartered at Ricks Armory for more than 60 years, is in the process of packing up its belongings from the facility in Little Rock and moving to Camp Robinson in North Little Rock. The relocation comes after a storm in late June tore off much the facility's roof, causing thousands of dollars in damage, Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Matt Snead said last week.

"They've accelerated, which is good for us," Kenneday said. "Now we can continue those discussions."

The move came as a surprise, Kenneday said, because the plan was stalled when the Department of Human Services refused to pay any portion of the $250,000 the Guard requested from the agencies for its relocating expenses.

The Guard had secured federal funding for the majority of the $1 million it would take to relocate the unit and to renovate existing space at Camp Robinson, but the funding required a good-faith contribution from another source in the state to be awarded.

It is still uncertain whether the Guard is seeking contributions toward its relocating expenses. The State Institutional System Board did not discuss the matter at its meeting Thursday, and a Guard spokesman was not available for comment.

"Evidently, they found a way to get out of there with what they had," Kenneday said. "We were clear with them that we couldn't do any more. Our understanding is now that they're vacating the property and eventually it will revert back to state."

Once the Guard has made a complete transition to its new location -- which Snead has said should happen by September -- the 99-year lease it holds with DHS will be abandoned, Kenneday said. The Guard could either abate the lease, returning control of the property to DHS immediately, or leave the facility abandoned. After two years of abandonment, the armory would revert back to the leaseholder.

The department would be free to sell the property to UAMS when it has regained control.

"We don't have a high level of urgency, but we want to acquire the property and begin to clean it up," Kenneday said. "It allows us to begin strategically thinking about what we're doing with that property."

Under its current master plan, UAMS proposes demolishing seven existing structures and constructing two 60,000-square-foot buildings. Nonclinical services -- administrative offices, a learning center, day care and a parking lot -- would be located in the 18-acre area.

Metro on 07/25/2014