LR airport vendors on panel’s agenda
All restaurants and retail outlets at Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/ Adams Field will be required to reopen within the coming months under a recommendation the Little Rock Municipal Airport Commission will take up in August.
The recommendation from airport executive director Bryan Malinowski comes as passenger levels continue to recover from pandemic lows.
HMS Host, which holds the airport’s concession contract, has been slow to reopen its offerings at the airport, citing passenger levels and other difficulties.
Several concessions, including outlets for Starbucks, Chick-fil-A and Chili’s, have reopened.
Under the recommendation, the Burger King outlet on the concourse will reopen Aug. 31, the River Bend Bar & Grill will reopen Sept. 30 and a second Starbucks outlet — in the baggage claim area — will reopen Oct. 15. The Hudson retail outlet will reopen Sept. 1.
Host will lose the location that doesn’t reopen within 30 days of the promised date, Malinowski said. If they reopen as required, the Host contract will be extended three years, he said.
Clinton National has granted financial relief to its tenants, including Host and Hudson. It is scheduled to receive about $40 million in federal pandemic relief.
— Noel Oman
30-year mortgage rate rises to 2.8%
WASHINGTON — Mortgage rates were mixed last week. The key 30-year home loan remained below 3% for the fifth straight week amid continued concern over the surging delta coronavirus variant and the progress of economic recovery.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac — the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. — reported Thursday that the average for the 30-year mortgage edged up to 2.80% from 2.78% last week. The benchmark rate, which reached a peak this year of 3.18% in April, stood at 2.99% a year ago.
The rate for a 15-year loan, a popular option among homeowners refinancing their mortgages, fell to 2.10% from 2.12% last week.
In a sign that the U.S. has enjoyed a sustained recovery from the pandemic recession, the government reported Thursday that the economy grew at a solid 6.5% annual rate last quarter. The total size of the economy has now surpassed its pre-pandemic level.
— The Associated Press
State index closes at 650.20, up 6.35
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, closed Thursday at 650.20, up 6.35.
“Stocks rose led by cyclical sectors including Materials and Financials as weak GDP data for the second quarter increased investors’ conviction for a continuation of dovish policy by the Federal Reserve,” said Leon Lants, managing director for Stephens Inc.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.