Executive facelift: 2020 building has a sharp new look
California-based real estate investor Richard Kelly might never have considered owning property in Little Rock had his business partner, Laura Cabrera, not relocated here with a job opportunity. But once she started sending back feelers from Arkansas, Kelly immediately saw opportunity here.
“I was absolutely thrilled with the idea of Little Rock for the following reason: It was not on anybody’s map, and I really liked that,” Kelly said. “I don’t want to be in the hot area. I don’t want to be in a place that everyone’s saying, ‘Oh my God, it’s blowing up.’ No.
“I love the idea of being in a place that’s kind of under people’s radar screen and where you can find deals.”
Kelly’s attention was drawn to the former Executive Building, an office structure that sits along Markham Street between the state Capitol and the up-and-coming Stifft Station neighborhood.
Cabrera remembers the building as having good bones but needing a serious makeover.
“I don’t think anything had been done to this building since it was built,” she said, with a laugh. “Many years ago, in the ’90s, I had a chiropractor who was on the bottom floor of this building, and it was so dated then.
“Then when we came here to view the building, I walked in, and nothing had changed. It literally was the same building, the same wood paneling, the same furniture in the lobby. But as we started talking to different architects and visions started coming together, I thought, ‘Wow, we can really make this something pretty.’ And I think we have.”
“Overall, I have to say I’m super happy with how this project turned out. I feel like the vision that I had for it from the beginning somehow manifested itself, in fact, in many ways even better than I had hoped.” — Richard Kelly, real estate investor
Kelly purchased the six-story building in 2018 through a company he set up specifically for that purpose, 2020LR. That summer, renovation work began, a process that would last about a year. The end result is a sleek, reimagined space with additional windows to let in the stunning views of the city.
“When I saw the way it was positioned, when I saw how close it was to the Capitol and I saw it was kind of straddling this really busy street, it just seemed to me it had a lot of potential,” Kelly said. “To be totally honest with you, there was a lot more work here than I had expected, but we got it to a local architect, and he came up with a plan that I hadn’t even thought of.”
That architect, Ed Sergeant of Sergeant Architecture in Little Rock, blended his design ideas with Kelly’s, and the result is nothing short of stunning. And with its chic, new gray exterior and modern, dramatically accented signage, the rechristened 2020 Building is a handsome bridge between two Little Rock neighborhoods.
“I really think the public is responding mostly to the new colors on the outside,” Cabrera said. “The paint job is quite dramatic, compared to what it used to be. The outside used to be a beige that just, I feel, blended into the background.
“The lettering that we have on it, the sign — at night, the letters light up, and they change to different colors. We can change them to reflect different things that are going on: green for St. Patrick’s Day or pink for breast-cancer awareness, things like that. That part really excites me.”
The most ringing endorsement of the new changes is how the building has stayed full, even through the pandemic, Kelly said.
“We really do have a great mix in that building. We’ve got some government space; we’ve got attorneys, tax preparers, really a great variety of tenants,” he said. “It’s been a challenging economic climate, but we filled the building, and that’s not easy in a tough environment. So, I think the numbers speak very loudly.”
In hindsight, Kelly admitted that working from afar to get the building done was a challenge, and he gives a lot of credit to his leasing agent, Marshall Peters of Marshall Peters and Associates, as well as Sergeant and Cabrera for the legwork they did on-site. He also praised local residents and city officials for their warmth and helpfulness.
“I have been super-impressed with the quality of the people I’ve dealt with in Little Rock, not just for their talent, but really for their honesty and integrity,” he said. “I really have worked with great people and been really impressed. And one thing I know for sure is, I say ‘sir’ or ‘ma’am’ now to everyone I talk to. Like, I just cannot get that out of my head. It’s just sort of become a part of who I am out here.
“Overall, I have to say I’m super happy with how this project turned out. I feel like the vision that I had for it from the beginning somehow manifested itself, in fact, in many ways even better than I had hoped.”