North Little Rock's movement toward creating a downtown plaza and attracting businesses near it is gaining steam, Mayor Joe Smith said Friday after adding resolutions for Monday's City Council meeting.
One resolution is a contract with Taggart Architects of North Little Rock for the design and construction of Argenta Plaza, 510 Main St. The other is a contract with Conway-based Centennial Bank for a feasibility study and an option to buy city property for the possible relocation of its Argenta branch, 305 E. Broadway, to the southeast corner of Main Street and Bishop Lindsey Avenue/Seventh Street.
The resolution for the estimated $3 million plaza between Fifth and Sixth streets includes a provision for the Taggart firm's supervision over a team of consultants that includes specialists in landscape architecture, lighting, audio-visual systems and water features, the latter being for a fountain display.
Funding for the city-owned plaza is to come from proceeds obtained by previous sales of certain city properties, the legislation said.
A downtown plaza has been a goal of Smith's to create a "gathering place" for an increasing number of residents and workers to the city's once-dormant downtown, as well as to draw visitors to the city's Main Street business area. A summer start date is already planned for the building of a $16 million, 162-unit Thrive Argenta apartment complex between East Fourth and East Fifth streets, one block off Main.
Smith has said he wants a smaller version of Sundance Square Plaza, a popular visitor destination in downtown Fort Worth. Smith was host to an August tour of Sundance Square Plaza and its operations that included about 50 city employees, civic and business leaders.
"We feel real comfortable about being able to start construction in the fall on the plaza," Smith said.
In November, the City Council approved allowing J. Chandler and Company, owned by Little Rock businessman John Chandler, to do a feasibility study for the purchase and development of city property that includes the possible bank location.
Chandler is still involved in the overall development picture, Smith said, which includes ideas for a three-story building on the east side of the plaza -- or behind the plaza if looking from Main -- and a restaurant.
"He's not drawn up any plans for the restaurant yet," Smith said of Chandler. "He's working on that pretty aggressively."
For the proposed Centennial Bank site, banking officials will have 120 days for its study and have an option to buy the approximately 8,000-square-foot corner site from the city at $11 per square foot, or about $88,000. The location is just west of the Rock Region Metro Trolley Barn.
Though it isn't part of the plaza itself, Smith said, the proposed multistory bank building would create a presence near the plaza while fitting in with the "historic appearance" of the Argenta area.
"If you're driving down Main Street, you'll see it," Smith said.
Gordon Silaski, division president for the Centennial Bank region that includes Little Rock, North Little Rock, Sherwood, Maumelle and Bryant, said Friday that the bank doesn't have definitive plans yet, but it "will take that time to see if it's feasible for the bank to move its existing Argenta office to that location."
"We're looking down the road and are excited about the city's new development taking place down there and think we'd like to be a part of it," Silaski said.
Centennial and Twin City Bank merged in 2009. Under the Twin City name, a bank branch was located in a trailer on that same Main Street corner for seven years until the trailer was removed in February 2008 after the branch's operations moved to the Broadway site.
At that time, bank and real estate officials said the bank planned to return with a permanent bank building that would wrap around the Main Street corner where Seventh Street turns into Bishop Lindsey Avenue, the same site now being considered.
The building was to contain a restaurant, offices and residential properties as well, according to tentative plans at that time.
Metro on 04/22/2017