Little Rock parking-deck plan advances

LITTLE ROCK — Measures to eventually clear the way for construction of a parking deck on South Louisiana Street in downtown Little Rock were approved by members of the city Board of Directors during a meeting on Tuesday evening.

The city must still acquire the downtown land from a Stephens Inc.-affiliated entity and fund the construction using bond money.

If the project comes to fruition, the deck is expected to house 600 parking spaces at a location within walking distance of the Little Rock Marriott and the Statehouse Convention Center.

Today the lot on South Louisiana Street between West Second and West Third streets is empty and surrounded by fencing.

At a city board meeting three weeks ago, items associated with the proposed parking deck had insufficient support to get through.

During the March 15 meeting, a resolution associated with the project failed to get six votes among the 10 city directors — the final vote was 5-2, with three members voting “present” — and a second resolution was pulled from consideration as a result.

City Directors Antwan Phillips, Ken Richardson and Doris Wright voted “present” at that time, while Kathy Webb and B.J. Wyrick voted no.

By Tuesday, the lone holdout that remained was Webb, who represents Ward 3. She voted no on the three measures tied to the proposed parking deck while her colleagues voted to approve them as part of the consent agenda.

A limited liability company with links to Stephens Inc. currently owns the six parcels on the street where the deck is expected to go up.

Officials with Second and Louisiana Properties LLC purchased the South Louisiana Street properties and then demolished four buildings that stood on the half-block.

A plan to build a 100-space surface parking lot meant to serve Stephens Inc. employees, as well as tenants in the financial services firm’s building, got Little Rock Planning Commission approval in 2019, but the lot evidently never came through.

Three resolutions on the board’s agenda Tuesday were tied to the parking deck: one to prepare documents with an underwriter and a law firm in order to issue bonds at a later date, a second to allow the city to advance funds to pay costs prior to the issuance of the bonds and a third to authorize an agreement with an architectural firm for up to $726,000.

A memo from the city manager’s office included with meeting materials noted Stephens Inc. owns the land and said “it is anticipated” that the city will buy the land for approximately $5.8 million.

The Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau will manage the parking deck once it has been completed, the memo said.

The $726,000 estimated cost of architectural services from Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects represents 5.5% of the “assumed construction cost” of $13.2 million, and the project is expected to cost $15 million, the memo said.

Five candidates reportedly submitted bids to provide architectural services.

On Tuesday, at-large City Director Antwan Phillips asked City Manager Bruce Moore prior to the vote to clarify that the items on the agenda concerned preliminary efforts to assess what it would take to construct the parking deck, as opposed to a vote to purchase something or refinance bonds.

Moore indicated Phillips’ understanding was correct.