Did you vote? The opportunity may have passed by the time you read this. If you still can, and haven’t voted yet, go vote. Now. Nothing in the column today is more important than exercising that civic duty to vote. One of my earliest memories is going with my parents to vote. They went over to the elementary school (there was only one). There were big voting machines with curtains that closed with a lever. My mom took me in the voting machine with her. She made all her choices, pulled a lever and then opened the curtain. She was done. It was easy. It is important. I hope you took advantage of the right to vote that so many service men and women have defended for you over the decades.
The commercial real estate community in Little Rock hosted two good events in October. CCIM & LRRA hosted a quarterly Commercial Real Estate Luncheon. The program was about west Little Rock with a special presentation about the new, under-construction, headquarters of Bank OZK. The next program will be in January. Lunch starts at 11:30 so that folks can mingle, network and make deals before the program starts at 1:00. You’ll be able to find more information and register online. You should go to the site now and check out the information on the upcoming Christmas party. The second event was hosted by IREM (Institute of Real Estate Managers) and BOMA (Building Owners and Managers Association). Economic Development was the topic.
I was honored to have the opportunity to talk a little about commercial real estate so as to set the stage for a terrific presentation by Jay Chesshir, President and CEO of the Little Rock Regional Chamber. The opportunity to hear Jay’s presentation on economic development in Metro Little Rock sprang from an idea by Cathy Tuggle. As a veteran member of many commercial real estate industry groups via her professional life at Apartment Hunters, she was a terrific intermediary to bring this event to life in her role as this year’s Chair of the Little Rock Regional Chamber. Cathy and the folks at IREM and BOMA put together a very professional lunch at Pleasant Valley Country Club and brought commercial real estate and business leaders together for some excellent networking and exchange of ideas.
In an exchange of dollars, the just-completed Starbucks at 2815 Cantrell Road sold for $1,950,000. Just east of Starbucks, at the NE corner of Cantrell and Riverfront Drive, a new Exxon is under construction. Frankly, I wouldn’t mind seeing a few more projects like that one along that part Cantrell Road. There has been some recent investment in properties such as the Riviera, Tropical Smoothie Café and the soon-coming Centennial Bank. There are many more properties that haven’t seen new investment in years. I’ve been in a couple that frankly just can’t genuinely be safe to occupy.
I have a short list here of some other million-dollar-plus sales lately. To start is a medical clinic at 1525 Country Club Road in Sherwood. It sold for $1,757,500. Chapel Ridge Apartments in Sherwood (160 units) sold for $11,375,000. Hillview Village Apartments in North Little Rock (56 units) sold for $3,075,000. Argenta Square Apartments in North Little Rock sold for $3,070,000. (There was some ancillary property in the sale so I’ll not include the unit count.) PGA Land and Realty paid $12,000,000 for the former K-Mart and other buildings in Little Rock on North Rodney Parham Road. You may have seen the press release that it is to be redeveloped as a medical clinic. Good to see new investment at that location too. Just around the corner, at 1010 Breckinridge Drive, the M Star hotel sold for $2,630,000. And rounding out this list is the sale of the venerable Red Lobster on Markham Street in Little Rock. This mainstay restaurant sold for the sum of $4,258,000.
Tips and suggestions, well most of them anyway, are appreciated. Hope you found something interesting in the column this month. Check back again next month for the things that didn’t get included here this time and that pop up between now and then.