The residences to offer river views, 12 condos

Arkansas Business, Oct 3, 2005 by Lance Turner

A Little Rock developer planning The Residences at Building 5 near the DoubleTree Hotel said four of the 1,350-SF to 6,264-SF condominiums are spoken for and that he expects to have other spaces sold by the end of October.

Brad Canada and his father, Gary, who own the Bank of England, are partners in the project. Brad Canada said renovations to the building as well as the construction of five additional floors should be complete in about nine months.

He did not disclose financial details of the project.

Canada's project will add space for 12 condos to the slender, red-brick building at 400 W. Markham St. between the DoubleTree and the Old State House Museum.

The condos will sell from $395,000 for the smallest 1,350-SF space to $2.2 million for the sprawling, 6,264-SF space on the 11th floor. Spaces in between range from 1,486 SF to 1,962 SF.

When construction is complete, the building will boast 12 full floors and a small, 13th-floor study. Brad Canada said he will live on the 12th and 13th floors.

The Residences at Building 5 is the latest in a line of condo projects in downtown Little Rock. Last month, Tower Investments LLC of Woodland, Calif., unveiled plans for Lafayette Square, condominium, office and retail space in five buildings on Sixth Street between Louisiana and Main streets. Upscale condominiums in the Lafayette, Arkansas, M.M. Cohn, Kahn and Boyle buildings will sell for between $160,000 and $325,000, developers said.

Moses Tucker Real Estate Inc. of Little Rock, meanwhile, is set to begin construction on a 17-story, $45 million residential tower near the River Market District on land now occupied by Innerplan Office Interiors at Third and Cumberland streets. The project, called 300 Third, will have condos ranging from 850 SF to 3,000 SF that will cost from $250,000 to more than $1 million.

Other condominium space is available in the River Market in the Capitol Commerce and First Security Bancorp buildings.

Despite the choices potential condominium buyers have downtown, Brad Canada said his building, which overlooks the Arkansas River and the site of the new Arkansas Travelers baseball park in North Little Rock, sets his project apart.

"For me, my location is great with the river view--I'm right on the river," he said. "They're not going to build in front of it. I'm going to have big patios on the front.

"I think it's kind of a unique space here. As far as all this other development going on downtown, I think it'll work fine. But I kind of differentiate this project from some that."

The Canadas, under the name Arkansas Riverview Development LLC, bought the 25,000-SF building last year from the Arkansas Bar Foundation for $950,000.

Since then, Brad Canada said, he's been slowly renovating the interior of the building, which also houses the headquarters for the Bank of England.

BUILDING FIVE: Brad and Gary Canada, owners of the Bank of England, plan to add five floors to an existing building next to the DoubleTree Hotel in downtown Little Rock and build it out for 12 upscale condominiums starting at $395,000.