Tech Park Board Issues Bids To Hire Construction Manager For Downtown Project

The Little Rock Technology Park Authority Board on Monday issued a “Request for Qualifications” (RFQ) for a construction manager to guide the planning, design and construction for the first phase of the $30 million downtown tech park development.

According to the proposed timeline exhibit in the bid proposal, the tech board is moving forward quickly with the selection of a construction management firm to lead the project, requesting that all responses to the proposal be received by the board no later than 5 p.m. on Sept. 1. The timeline shows that the board plans to hire the new construction manager by Sept. 19, and begin scheme designs for the downtown development five days later on Sept. 24.

The RFQ comes less than two weeks after the tech park board approved a resolution to negotiate and close on a proposed $17.5 million financing deal with a consortium of local banks package to purchase nearly 142,500 square feet of building space from Stephens Inc. That came after the tech park board issued a 67-page RFP seeking bids for a financial package to fund the much-talked about downtown development project.

Brent Birch, the Tech Park’s executive director, said recently that the authority hopes to close on the Stephens deal and begin gutting the downtown buildings purchased for development by January 2016.

The tech park authority was created in 2007, under enabling legislation passed by the Arkansas General Assembly as Act 1045 of the 2007 Session. The board was formed in 2011 to manage the creation of local authority to attract and stimulate tech-related startups and established businesses, but has largely been mired in controversy for nearly three years as the board sought to find a location for the taxpayer-financed project.

Little Rock voters approved a referendum in 2011 to provide $22 million in capital funding to the project over a period from 2012 to 2021. On June 21, the Little Rock city board of directors unanimously approved $6.8 million of the sales tax kitty to help finance part of the Stephens’ property purchase.