Tech park board sues for LR building

The Little Rock Technology Park Authority sued lawyer Richard Mays Sr. in Pulaski County Circuit Court Monday, claiming its right of eminent domain to take Mays' three-story office building at 415 Main St.

Mays' property is sandwiched between a deserted office building and a parking lot to be sold to the tech park board by financier Warren Stephens in an $11.6 million deal expected to close in January. The Stephens transaction includes three buildings and three parking lots for the first phase of development and renovation of the $100 million technology and research hub.

Mays' property, where he has practiced for more than 30 years, is the last piece of property the tech park has to put under contract before it can move forward with the project. When complete, the tech park will be in and adjacent to a downtown city block between Main and Scott streets off Capitol Avenue.

"It is necessary for the authority to acquire immediate possession of the property for the purpose of constructing the authority's office and support facilities, auxiliary facilities for the tech park, or both," the tech park authority said in the lawsuit.

The tech park and Mays have been haggling over a sales price. The tech park offered Mays $845,000 for his roughly 10,020-square-foot building, and Mays countered Thursday with an offer of $1.2 million.

Also Thursday, Mays sued the Little Rock Technology Park Authority in Pulaski County Circuit Court, saying that he does not believe the authority has the legal right to condemn his property.

The tech park board voted in a Nov. 2 meeting to file a condemnation suit against Mays if they couldn't agree on a price. The board said price negotiations could and should continue as the lawsuit made its way through the court. Mays said the same for his lawsuit. The board has through Wednesday to react to Mays' $1.2 million offer.

When contacted about the tech board's lawsuit Monday, board Chairman Mary Good said she had no comment.

"I haven't read all of it. I know about it, and I know all the content, but we don't have any comments today," Good said.

Mays received a copy of the tech park's complaint last week and said it contained no surprises. He said Monday there might be a way to adjoin the lawsuits or somehow other manage them together.

Pulaski County Circuit Judge Alice Gray is set to hear Mays' case; Monday's lawsuit by the Little Rock Technology Park Authority was assigned to Pulaski County Circuit Judge Morgan "Chip" Welch. Attorneys Scott Schallhorn and John Baker of the Mitchell Williams Law Firm are representing the tech park authority.

"I understand their position, and I think they understand my position," said Mays, a former Arkansas Supreme Court justice.

The tech park's suit included Mays' partner, Arkie Byrd, and son Richard Mays Jr. and daughter Tiffany Mays O'Guinn, who are associates at the firm, among others. However, Mays said he is by far the majority owner in Main Street LLC, which owns the building.

Mays has offered to lease the building to the tech park, but the board has said it is interested only in owning it.

"Eminent domain is like the state with a big stick," Mays said. "You really do want to do everything you can before you use a big stick, especially when you're not on the most solid grounds legally," Mays said Monday.

"People who have a stick have a tendency to swing it if they get resistance. I guess that's human nature," he added.

Business on 11/24/2015

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