NLR council votes clear path for pair of projects

North Little Rock City Council members on Monday unanimously approved setting in motion two projects that have been focuses the past year or more for Mayor Joe Smith.

Two pieces of legislation move forward First Orion’s plans to build a multistory building next to a downtown plaza site on Main Street between Fifth and Sixth streets.

Separate legislation begins the process for relocating and consolidating the North Little Rock Police Department and the city’s Police and Courts Building onto one campus, a pledge made as part of the city’s successful sales tax campaign approved by voters in August.

The council voted for memorandums of intent between the North Little Rock Downtown Development Board and First Orion Corp., and with regard to the development board and The Mill LLC, that involve property to become the site of First Orion’s new international headquarters adjacent to the planned plaza.

First Orion, an Arkansas company that develops and sells software to help cellphone users identify and block unwanted calls, announced Nov. 6 its plans for a five- or six-story office building. The building, to have retail shops, restaurants and a fitness center on the ground floor, will be on the east side of the plaza area that Smith has pushed to create. Groundbreaking for both the plaza and the office

building is expected in the spring.

The city will buy a parcel owned by The Mill for $16 per square foot and then sell that parcel for the same amount to First Orion. Other property will be sold to First Orion by the city for $6 per square foot. The development board will handle the transactions on behalf of the city.

The exact price for the transactions isn’t known, Smith told council members, because appraisals haven’t been completed.

“I think it will come out to be $10 to $12 per square foot” in total, Smith said.

The addition of First Orion’s several hundred employees will add to the visibility and viability of the plaza, expected to become a “gathering place” downtown, Smith has said.

“This is great for downtown,” Smith said after the vote for the property transactions. “This is probably the biggest thing we’ve touched in a long, long time.”

Smith said that in order for the Downtown Development Board to buy The Mill parcel, he will offer legislation at the next council meeting to appropriate funds to help cover the final cost.

Relocating the city’s Police and Courts Building was the biggest part of proposed capital expenditures for the 1 percentage point sales tax increase voters approved in the August special election. One-half percentage point of the new tax will be permanent

and be for general operations, while the other half-point for capital projects will last only five years. That temporary half is projected to raise $40 million in those five years with $20 million going toward relocating the Police and Court Building and police administration.

Monday’s legislation gained council approval as the first step toward a proposed city property exchange involving the Police and Courts Building and its parking lot, 200 W. Pershing Blvd., and the Police Administration Building, 2525 Main St., for the North Little Rock School District Administration Building and the Arkansas Army National Guard Armory. The North Little Rock School Board and the state adjutant general, Maj. Gen. Mark Berry, would still have to approve the deal.

The school district owns the property where Fisher Armory is located, 2600 Poplar St. The school administration building, 2700 Poplar St., is adjacent to the armory. The city would pay the National Guard $500,000 to help it relocate its units from Fisher Armory, plus the cost to demolish the buildings.

“We thought that was very fair to them,” Smith said Monday. “They [the School Board] haven’t voted on it or discussed it. As soon as the School Board approves it, I’ll move forward with a memorandum of agreement with the general.”

The capital portion of the new sales tax will also include upgrades at city fire stations and streets and drainage improvements. Smith said Monday that more details on those projects are forthcoming.