Redevelopment plans that include 96 apartment units for Little Rock's second-oldest skyscraper received the city's approval Tuesday, signaling progress on stalled renovation.
Developer Jacob Chi said he was saving specific plan details for a future announcement but that work on the 12-story Boyle Building, 500 Main St., would resume "probably sooner rather than later."
After the Board of Directors approved a necessary zoning change by a 9-0 vote, Chi said that the future of a neighboring building -- a question mark that paused his previous plans to convert the Boyle Building into an Aloft Hotel -- would have no impact on the renewed plans.
"We are actively developing that piece of property," Chi said. "Our family is very dedicated."
The zoning change -- from urban use to a planned commercial district -- allows Little Rock-based Chi Hotel Group to build apartments at a higher density, while also allowing for hotel rooms, commercial tenants including a restaurant and offices.
The Boyle Building, which sits across from the newly opened Little Rock Technology Park, would boost the number of apartment units on Main Street to more than 300, Mayor Mark Stodola said.
"It is a tremendous opportunity to see the redevelopment of that street that has been dead for 30 years," Stodola said.
Chi Hotel Group bought the building three years ago for $4.6 million and has also indicated construction of amenities such as a rooftop pool, a gym and a theater, according to city planning documents. Renovations will be done in a single phase, according to the documents.
Chi initially announced plans to convert the vacant building into an Aloft Hotel at an estimated cost of $22 million to $24 million, to open in 2016. Work began, but it was put on hold two years ago amid questions about whether and how the neighboring M.M. Cohn Building would be revived.
"I wouldn't say that [the current plan] strays far away from the original plan," Chi said, adding that the zoning change gives investors "flexibility" in how to use it.
The city's Planning Department staff recommended approval, and the Planning Commission recommended approval with a 9-0 vote in July.
Chi said his family, alone and with partners, has taken a "significant stab" at buying the Cohn Building but has been unsuccessful, he said. The renewed development plans are progressing regardless of the Cohn Building's future, he said.
Stodola said more than $150 million in private money has been invested into redeveloping the Main Street corridor, not including investment in the Donaghey Building or the Boyle Building plans. That is in addition to a $1.5 million mix of local and federal funds.
"It's way over a 50-to-1 return on investment," Stodola said. "Property values have skyrocketed down there. That's good for the schools, that's good for the city, that's good for the county. It's a real feather in our cap to see that redevelopment going on."
Initially called the State National Bank Building before its renaming in 1916, the Boyle Building opened two years after the 10-story building now named Pyramid Place opened on Second Street, according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture.
Metro on 08/16/2017