At one time, it looked like the KLofts on Third Street were a dead letter. Same for the lofts planned for the 500 block of Main, and there was space on Sixth Street crying out for a more permanent occupant.
The pessimism was out of order, as it turned out. Here’s an update
100 Block
The Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas has secured a lease on the building at 117 Main St., where it will offer noncredit classes to local business leaders. Brent Williams,
300 Block
Bye, bye Club Level. You’ll be missed by those looking for a techno- and hip-hop blaring nightclub with VIP lounge seats and pulsing lights. Now, the ground floor at 315 Main St. is occupied by Brewski’s Pub & Grub, a sports bar with TVs galore, pool tables and (in line with the name) tasty pub grub.
On the upper floors, the bogged-down KLofts got a new owner, real tenants and a new name — Mulberry Flats. The 32-unit complex is 80 percent occupied, Rett Tucker of Moses Tucker Partners said. The Mulberry name derives from the original name for Third Street (Fourth was Walnut; Second Street was Cherry). All units are one-bedroom and rent for $800 a month and up. “It’s mostly younger people and mostly single people” who are picking the Mulberry, Tucker said.
Perhaps they’re attracted to what has become the Great White Way of restaurants on this block. Soul Fish Cafe (306 Main), Bruno’s Little Italy (310 Main) and Samantha’s Taproom and Wood Grill (322 Main) will soon be joined by Ira’s and A.W. Lin’s in the Rose Building at 307 Main, next door to Brewski’s.
Chef Ira Mittleman said the new edition of Ira’s — formerly in Park Hill — has suffered “all kinds of hang-ups” in getting the 1901 built structure ready for his restaurant. But Mittleman hopes to “open in about a month,” he said. Ira’s will seat 90, including 14 at the bar, and serve lunch and dinner. A.W. Lin’s, which has a Chenal restaurant, will open “this year sometime,” owner Jenny Liu said.
400 Block
The $24 million Little Rock Technology Park, located in two renovated buildings in the 400 block of Main Street, held its grand opening last April and its month-to-month occupancy — by startup firms — is now 94 percent. That success means the park’s board of directors is looking at Phase II of the tech park, a new building that will be located adjacent
The park’s 45 tenants include The Venture Center incubator, which hosts the 12-week VC FinTech Accelerator program to advance early startups in financial technology.
500 Block
The Chi Hotel Group LLC still owns the Boyle Building at the corner of Fifth and Main
Next door, the ground floor of the old M.M. Cohn Building has been fitted out with glass-walled offices for a tenant that David Robinson of Block 2 Commercial Real Estate declined to identify. At one time, the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra thought it would occupy the space, but because of delays in construction and lawsuits against former owner/developer Scott Reed, that idea played out.
But here’s
Out-of-state investors Jake Spellmeyer and Bryan Pereboom purchased the property from Reed.
600 Block
Though there has been street construction in front of Three Fold Noodle and Dumpling Co. practically since it opened at 613 Main St. in September 2017, the beloved Chinese restaurant has done gangbusters business. The restaurant, previously located at 215 Center St., increased its seating capacity by 50 percent, from 80 to 120, and in turn increased revenue at least by 50 percent, according to Rachelle Branca, Three Fold’s director of marketing. The restaurant also sped up service, added breakfast, a salad and soup noodle bowl option, and beef noodle soups to the other noodle, dumpling and bun options folks seemingly can’t get enough of.
Three Fold is the ground floor tenant in the Charles Thompson-designed Arkansas Democrat building, which housed the newspaper from 1916 until the 1930s. Upstairs, Moses Tucker Partners has leased all eight of the Arkansas Democrat Lofts, which range from 800 to 1,500
Speaking of that street construction, the $1.072 million revamp of the 600 and 700 blocks of Main is scheduled to be completed by August, weather permitting, said Caran Curry, grants coordinator for the city of Little Rock. The project is Phase II of the Main Street Water Quality Demonstration Project, a federal grant-funded redesign of the street matched by city dollars. Phase I, which began in late 2013 and finished September 2015, updated the streetscape from the 100 to 500 blocks with sidewalks that bulge into the street to “calm” traffic and porous pavement for rain gardens to filter water.
700 Block
Last Sunday, New Life Church held its first service in its new home
Little Rock’s first “skyscraper,” the 14-story, 92-year-old Donaghey Building at 703 Main St., was sold in November 2017 to