Parking lot sought on tower site
Posted on Saturday, August 30, 2008
FAYETTEVILLE — Developers of the Renaissance Tower say their request to put a temporary parking lot where the future hotel was planned does not mean the 18-story, $ 43 million project won’t be completed.
Instead, John Nock, who with his partner Richard Alexander is East Square Development, said the application filed with city planning Thursday is a way to help one project along while waiting for the other to come to fruition.
“We need temporary parking to serve the retail [space ] we are developing in the One East Center building — the old Bank of America building on the square,” Nock said Friday.
The Renaissance Tower hotel, condominium and parking deck is the centerpiece of a redevelopment and construction project by East Square Development stretching from East Avenue to College Avenue between Center and Mountain streets.
The 22, 480-square-foot site is a gravel lot and a large hole that will be the basement for the future hotel.
Nock said painting the buildings that back onto the site is a courtesy to the city and was done at the request of Mayor Dan Coody to improve the lot’s appearance.
The hotel tower was first projected to open Sept. 1, 2007, according to a contract between Nock and Alexander and the city.
The hotel project missed that deadline and has paid 11 of 12 monthly fines of $ 25, 042 for a total of $ 300, 504 for violating the contract. The last payment is scheduled to be paid in September, Nock said.
The parking lot application specifies the entire site at 68 E. Mountain St. in the conditional use permit, but Nock said the basement already excavated for the tower will probably not be filled and paved.
“We are still doing the project, we are still doing the hotel. This is temporary parking for the retail,” Nock said. “This is not a permanent solution.”
Nock declined to comment on the Marriott hotel portion of the project but did say the company is still on schedule to comply with a building permit extension to 2010 granted by the city earlier this year.
“The 2010 timeline is not going to change. This has not moved, deviated or changed our purpose to the project,” he said.
Jeremy Pate, Fayetteville’s director of current planning, said the application does include some waiver requests for trees and other large landscaping features usually required for city parking lots. He said the requests were understandable since the parking lot has been designated as a temporary use.
“They are proposing to screen the outside edges with evergreen shrubs,” he said Friday.
Steve Aust, project manager with East Square Development, said the lot request is for 67 parking spaces. The request does not include an ending time for the lot. Nock said he and Alexander haven’t decided whether the lot will be free or paid parking, or whether portions of the lot will be leased. “We won’t do long-term leases because this is a short-term, temporary use,” he said.
To contact this reporter: sroberts@arkansasonline. com
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