NLR mayor says city will let land-swap deal expire

An exchange in 2010 of downtown property in North Little Rock between the city and a developer will end this month when the agreement isn’t extended for a seventh time, Mayor Joe Smith said Wednesday.

The land swap approved by a divided City Council in September 2010 involved the city trading four parcels of property downtown for the former Rye Furniture building at 201 Maple St., owed by Maple Holdings LLC, which was led by North Little Rock developer John Gaudin.

The agreement included a provision for the city to then sell the Rye site back to Gaudin and a newly developed private partnership for a hotel that would be built adjacent to a proposed parking deck that the city would build. No hotel franchise was ever identified.

Former Mayor Patrick Hays voted at the September 2010 City Council meeting to approve the swap, breaking a 4-4 vote by the council. Public comment before the vote on the transaction had also been evenly divided between supporters and opponents.

The land exchange wasn’t completed because of an economic slowdown and because of arsenic-contaminated soil discovered on one of the city’s parcels at 615 Magnolia St. Cleaning up the contamination would have been the city’s responsibility since it is still owns the property.

The city properties were appraised at $2.2 million, the same as the vacant Rye building site. The city properties are at Magnolia Street and Bishop Lindsey Avenue, Washington Avenue and Poplar Street, Sixth and Main streets, and Seventh and Main streets.

“That particular opportunity to put that land swap together will not be renewed,” Smith said. “Nothing really changes other than now we will be able to market any of the individual pieces of property that we have.

“We’re still working with our neighbors surrounding our properties for possible joint development.”

Gaudin said Wednesday that his New Argenta Fund partnership owns the Rye property “and will look to develop it.”