Tech Park on schedule to raze former Stephens, Mays law firm buildings

The last of two downtown buildings that were purchased by the Little Rock Technology Park Authority with a $17.1 million taxpayer-based financing package is expected to be demolished over the next few weeks, the chief executive of the downtown tech village told board members on Wednesday.

In a brief presentation at the authority’s monthly meeting, Tech Park Executive Director Brent Birch told board members that the last tenant at the former Mays law firm on 415 S. Main St., moved out last month. The building is now undergoing asbestos and environmental remediation that will be completed within days, he said.

“Then we will open it back up and begin demolition,” Birch said.

In February, the Tech Park board unanimously approved a $17.1 million bank consortium-backed financing package to fund the project, and later OK’ed a resolution to approve the purchase price for three separate real estate deals that will make up the bulk of the land and office space for downtown project.

Once in operation, the key pieces of the 40,000-square foot development to lure startups, entrepreneurs and maturing tech companies to the Little Rock area will be the three adjacent properties formerly owned by the 415 Main Group LLC, Five Main LLC and DMT Ventures LLC.

The 415 Main partnership was led by Little Rock Attorney Richard Mays, who accepted a $1.03 million offer from the tech park board in late November to purchase his centrally-located downtown law offices. The deal came together only after Mays threatened to fight back against an eminent domain taking.

The other two buildings, at 417 and 421 Main Street, were owned by a Warren Stephens-led limited liability partnerships that will eventually connect to the Mays building. The tech park board had earlier agreed to a purchase price of $11.6 million for those properties. Birch said the Stephens property has already been razed, and now serves as a staging area for the construction phase of the project that will soon get underway.

BOARD RECOMMENDS ‘TECH-PARKISH’ FURNITURE VENDOR

In other Tech Park business, the board also approved request for proposal (RFP) recommendations and final bids for contracts from three different vendors who will outfit, furnish and wire the seven-floor development once the authority starts leasing space by the end of this year.

The board first unanimously approved a $229,000 contract recommendation for EVO Furniture to equip the downtown project once construction is completed. There were seven vendors who submitted proposals, ranging from a low of $174,000 to a high of $408,000 turned in by the same company that was eliminated from the bidding process.

In the end, the board selected EVO from a group of three finalists, which Birch said had the right furniture “look.” “It is the best-looking furniture and fits within our budget,” he told the seven-person board. “It is ‘tech-parkish’ looking, and much, much cooler furniture than anyone else offered. It is not like anything else out there.”

After a long discussion on whether the recommendation to hire EVO should also include a negotiating price cap if the Tech Park needed more or less furniture after the project was completed, Birch was told to come back to the authority if he required more flexibility.

The board also recommended that Birch accept Advanced Cabling Systems’ bid for $72,000 as the tech village’s audio-visual provider. Advanced Cabling was selected from a list of five vendors who turned in proposals ranging from $67,000 to $130,000.

After a brief back-and-forth on the legal terms of a proposed vendor contract, the board unanimously also approved an earlier bid to hire Jonesboro-based Ritter Communications to provide broadband service for tenants who will lease space at the downtown tech village.

Last month, Ritter was chosen from a request for proposal process that drew bids from AT&T, Windstream, Unite and Level 3 Communications. The bid from Ritter offered to provide broadband service at a cost of $1099.95 per month for one gigabyte of Internet speed on the low end up to 10 gigabytes for $7999.95 at the highest range, plus a $400 installation fee.

Earlier in the meeting, board member Dickson Flake gave the board a snapshot of the Tech Park’s finances, offering that the accounting software that the authority is now using does not provide a complete picture of the Tech Park’s operations and finances.

“Our balance sheet is not showing the bulk of our expenses. It’s a mixed bag,” Flake said, adding that the monthly financial report met the state’s minimal financial reporting requirements. “We are still in the evolving process.”

NO GOOD REPLACEMENT

Meanwhile, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock still has not found a replacement for longtime Tech Park chairman Mary Good, who officially resigned in February, but volunteered to remain on the board until the university’s new chancellor appoints a new designee.

Last month, the board unanimously approved a resolution to name the Tech Park’s new conference center after the colorful and controversial board member. The Mary Good Conference Center will be a key feature of the first phase of the development, according to architectural renderings. There is no timetable for the second phase of the downtown development, which will include state-of-the-art wet and dry labs and an additional 160,000 square feet of office space.

Plans for phases 3, 4 and 5 of the downtown project are expected to be mostly new construction that will include an 800-car parking deck, retail and restaurant space, and office accommodations for established tech companies.