Arkansas Blog

Hey, maybe they can put some library books, instead of the Gideon Bibles, in the hotel rooms.

I was surprised and disappointed when the library went modern is what should be a more 'historic' setting. He would have more credibility if he had kept his own house in order. Everyone is so special today that it is only the other guy who should play by the rules.

this is so BS. give me the real reason bobby. if anyone has ever dealt with that River Market DOD you will have a horrible taste in your mouth. If i ever do another project downtown, I will not go by the rules and get the DOD's approval. How can they green light Moses Tucker's hotel project and then campaign against this hotel? This is the good ole boy network. of couse Moses Tucker doesn't want another hotel downtown. why doesn't the city green light this hotel project, you know the waived the $130,000 building permit for Moses Tucker, BS BS BS. These people make me sick.

City Hall is a real snake pit, that is for sure. It is actually getting worse if that is possible.

"We don' need no stinkin' people dowtown"

I think we should pave President Clinton Avenue and make a pedestrion mall to invigorate the RMD.

Someone please remind us what is in this space now. Wouldn't they have to raze some older buildings to put the hotel here?

ARK. BLOG: No. (Except a police substation.) The red spot on the map is currently a small parking lot, directly across street from Blvd. Bread end of the River Market.

Is that picture really what they are proposing? It looks on par with a Hampton Inn. I didn't know anyone still went to the River Market, it's too crowded! Put seriously, it's getting to the point where the traffic is almost too much to take. Is there a plan for additional traffic in the area? There should be.

Ha. I know that parking lot. It is the one where they come by once an evening give you a "ticket" even if you have paid. If you call to point that out, they say, "OK we will take care of it, just ignore it."

Wonder if you give tickets to 30 legal parkers, how many will complain and how many will pay out of misquided guilt.?

EasyB what are the boundaries of the Design Overlay District? Is the Moses Tucker within those boundaries? If not, then it wouldn't matter whose palms they greased their hotel is not covered.

The book I read from the Little Rock Public Libary the summer before going off to planning school in Oklahoma was Richard Sennett's "The Uses of Disorder". The book I later gave to the public libaray was a small book that centered on the equations that would help unolock the nature of energy and planning for traffic flows of all types. When Max is interested in traffic flows, one might pick up the Atlantic Montly or correspond with Bruce Katz of the Brookings. Hwy traffic will lock up shortly if projecting along traditional ways of thinking. But then perhaps a graduate of the University, mgiht be able to demosntrate how citizen movement can be subordinated to group travel via buses or trains (for the sake of the flow of goods and services). Whether or not people ever choose to read the whole book, that is another question. Whether or not one wishes to move the question, that is a MOVING Company question, all of which require insight into the nature of design. Got it?

The River Market District is sunny and bright most of the year, happy happy. In winter the sun is in the south. Tall buildings block the sun. The hotel will be south of the Pavilions.

Parking? I guess there's a reason there's no new parking underground.

Many new chain hotels look like big boxes with holes cut for windows. No architectural interest, no embellishment, no style. Simply warehouses for well-off transients. The roof does not count. I don't think this design would look good in the CVB photos of Little Rock. Think long term, it will be there just about forever. My personal preference would be period design for the area.

Again I ask, parking?

Put a hotel near the airport trolley stop and give a trolley day pass for each night's lodging. Same net effect bringing travelers to the River Market District without solar eclipse and parking problems. The trolley might need to run that route later to accommodate the music lovers who'll be there till the last call; try the late route weekends only at first.

A little late to realize that district should have had a design review committee.

"How can they green light Moses Tucker's hotel project and then campaign against this hotel? This is the good ole boy network. of couse Moses Tucker doesn't want another hotel downtown. "
-Easy B

Actually, Moses-Tucker is representing Hussman in the sale of the land to the hotel developer. They very much want to see this happen and have been out front lobbying for it.

Also the wind. Tall buildings create wind tunnels. Downtown is a prime example.

You don't need to know much about urban planning and esthetics to know that a 14-story hotel with the architectural qualities of the one pictures on this post would be an ugly wart of a building that would mar and debase the River Market.

Well let's hope it looks better than the Central Arkansas Library. How exactly does it fit in or add to the look of the River Market?

But I agree that the hotel should look more traditonal. If they had any sense, they'd make all the hotels be a block or two away. The actual River Market should be reserved for shops, food, and entertainment. Eventually those types of venue will need places and the street will be nothing but hotels.

I'm confused Max. You agree with Bobby Roberts' argument that the hotel would exceed 48 feet, a DOD code established over 12 years ago. I can't help but notice that several buildings in the River Market exceed 48 feet including some of Bobby's projects.

Allow me to read between the lines...Bobby doesn't want someone else's building overshadowing his buidling, even if it benefits the community.

ARK. BLOG: The River Market neighborhood and the Design Overlay District are quite different. The DOD does not include, for example, those buildings on the south side of the freeway exit ramp.

Here's a map:

http://www.littlerock.org/Images/UserFiles/PDF/StatisticsReports/river_market_overlay.pdf

Any building that is built in the Rivermarket District should have a design that fits in with its neighbors. I'm not concerned about the height but a modern dryvit box won't do!

The picture provided above is a hotel done by a different developer. McKibbon Properties is the developer of the RM project and is building an Aloft in Florida that looks different from the Rogers hotel. Why was the original height for the district set at four floors? The main library is taller that this.
As for Mr. Roberts letter stating "we have tried to be good stewards of the public's money" what about the cost over runs at the building now under construction? Isn't it about double the original cost? Does the library and the Arkansas Studies Institute even fit in with the RM District's "historic character as a small scale commercial district"?
With Roberts and the recent LRCVB's objection to the hotel down the street how long before Little Rock will be know as being closed for business?

EasyB rants about Moses Tucker not wanting another hotel downtown, only to learn from another blogger that MT will collect a fee if this deal goes through. Furthermore, MT isn't in the hotel business at all. Take what you read here with a grain of salt. Saywhat's view that the LRCVB objected to a hotel is also false. The LRCVB just wants to ensure that the hotel development will have enough parking for themselves and the parking they will take from the Statehouse by developing on that lot. Bobby's new building is the one that shouldn't be allowed. How does it's use fit into the River Market?

dowhat,
Let me correct myself. I should have said the LRCVB objected to a hotel they could not control. The LRCVB also built the RM parking deck that exceeds the height restrictions of the RM district.

No, let's build more "library buildings" that no will use like the art gallery place that stands empty most of the time and the new "studies center" that is under construction. Yeah, more crap like that. Not stuff to attract visitors with money in their pockets. No, just library cards.

Max, I wish I would have responded sooner....work kept me away.

The Main Library is at 76', the First Security Center at 160', the Museum Center at 75' and the River Market parking deck at 66'. Did I forget to mention that the new Arkansas Studies Institute will be 62'? Once again, I don't see how Bobby's argument is justified.

Hack Attack - Note that Bobby's e-mail includes this line - One crucial protection is the requirement that no new building be over four stories or forty-eight feet in height. Several of the buildings you mention were existing buildings, not new structures. This includes the new ASI buildings that would be just to the west of the proposed hotel. I'm on Bobby's side with this one. There are so many other things needed in the River Market besides a hotel. Note also that there is no parking included in the plans, and parking/traffic congestion is already a crucial problem in the RM.

Nemo - What "art gallery place" are you referring to? River Market ArtSpace? Cox Creative Center? Hearne Fine Art? Some of the best art places in town are in the River Market. When is it that one of these places "stands empty most of the time?" Seems when I'm there they are always bustling with visitors.

Someone needs to be asking what the hotel will do to the busiest River Rail trolley stop in front of the police substation, and whether construction will shut down the streetcar and for how long. Why will there be parking entrance on Commerce when the city's parking deck planners agreed to not put its ramps on commerce so as to avoid gridlock with the streetcars.