Lara Blume McGee's motivation for developing the property at 1319 E. Sixth St. in Little Rock is probably more sentimental and emotional than it is financial.
McGee's family operated a scrap metal business on the property for nearly 25 years. The land sits in an area that developers -- largely Cromwell Architects Engineers and Moses Tucker Real Estate -- view as the next hot spot in Little Rock. They've dubbed the land, which sits on the east side of Interstate 30, as the "East Village."
A 21,876-square-foot warehouse on .80 acres at 1212 East Sixth Street LLC recently sold for $427,500.
Rather than selling the .38 acres where the junkyard once operated, McGee wants to build on it. Most recently the property appraised for $102,500.
"There is nothing solid, but we have some great ideas for the property," McGee said. "We're in the planning stages of something that is going to be spectacular. We're coming up with some ideas that will blow people away."
McGee envisions a building that reaches six stories high. Each floor will include about 6,000 square feet of space.
Downstairs will be a retail mix that ideally includes a coffee shop, dry cleaner, nail shop and convenience store. The top floor will have an event center and ballroom with a rooftop space for parties and maybe condominiums.
These are the sort of uses that would make the most sense for the property as developers seek to make it another River Market.
But it is the space in between those top and bottom floors that really have McGee's attention and, frankly, her heart.
What McGee, who runs the ALS in Wonderland Foundation, really wants to make happen is a facility that is outfitted to house and treat patients who are struggling with the neurological disease. McGee watched her father, Richard Blume, fight ALS until his death in August.
Along with her father, McGee founded the ALS in Wonderland Foundation in 2013. The organization exists to help patients in Arkansas who have been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, and to assist with costs associated with medical equipment purchases.
McGee wants to open the first ALS home in Arkansas. She said New Orleans is the closest one available and building a place where sufferers can live and be treated as peacefully as possible is "my whole thought of doing the building."
Richard Blume owned Blume Scrap Metal and the I-30 Truck Wash and Scale at 811 E. Sixth St. Recently the property and junk metal that had been housed at the 1319 E. Sixth St. property was cleaned out as part of the preliminary work to get the land developed.
Estimated cost of the building project, before it is outfitted with specialized medical equipment, is $10 million. McGee wants doors that can be opened with patients' eyes. ALS causes sufferers to be unable to use their limbs.
The plan is ambitious. McGee knows it.
She is hopeful that construction will take about a year. Proper planning of the facility is "a two- or three-year plan."
"It is going to be a lot of work," McGee said. "I want it to stay in the family. I want to honor my dad's legacy."
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SundayMonday Business on 05/15/2016