Legacy Building complicates Dickson Street parking woes
Posted on Monday, August 25, 2008
Springdale developer Brandon Barber built the Legacy Building without providing any new parking spaces for the building's 10, 000 square feet of retail and restaurant space.
The city of Fayetteville did not require more parking for the commercial space because the development qualified for the building footprint waiver, city planning officials said.
The parking garage with 50 for-lease spots inside the building satisfied the city's requirements for the development's 37 luxury residential condominium units, even though that's less than one parking spot per bedroom, officials said.
The footprint waiver allows a developer to rebuild on an existing site in the downtown or Dickson Street areas without providing new parking under the assumption that the new building can utilize the parking that was in use by the previous property, explained Jessie Fulcher, a planner for the city of Fayetteville. The Legacy Building replaced the footprint of the Schulertown building, which was a warehouse converted to retail and commercial space. Joe Fennel was not so lucky when he decided to convert the former Shipley Bread building site into a new Bordinos restaurant. Bordinos paid $ 62, 000 in lieu of providing 50 parking spots that city planners determined the restaurant needed but could not provide. To deal with the parking shortage, Bordinos provides valet service to its customers and pays University Baptist Church to use its parking lot, he said. City officials said the construction of Bordinos did not qualify for the footprint waiver, but Fennel is not sure why he had to pay and Legacy didn't. "We were kind of shocked to find they made that kind of a deal," Fennel said. "My partners and I coughed up a whole lot of money... The same rules should apply for that building too. "The public never got to weigh in on parking issues with the construction of the Legacy Building because the site was less than an acre and did not qualify as a large-scale development, officials said.
Impact on others Once the restaurant and retail space in the Legacy Building is leased, it will impact the other businesses in the city's entertainment district that are already plagued by parking shortages. "It'll affect us. We need parking," said Zac Wooden, the owner of Roger's Rec, a long-time Dickson street pool hall and tavern named after the late Roger Koetter, who bought the bar in 1954. A public parking lot separates the backdoor of Roger's Rec and the Legacy Building, but parking there is limited to two hours between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. As a result, residents of the Legacy Building can't park there long-term. Several other bars and restaurants share this parking lot, but patrons often end up walking from other parking lots or parking alongside streets. Wooden said that while parking spots are often hard to find, people manage to find a spot and get where they are going. He does. "I come down here every Friday and Saturday night, and I find parking. I may have to walk a block or two," he said "You can't always park behind the bar you're going to. I don't know any entertainment district where you can. "Wooden said he welcomed Barber's developments along Dickson Street, but he's interested to see what will happen with Legacy. "Development of downtown helps my property value - foreclosure does not," Wooden said. Neal Crawford, the owner of Jose's restaurant on Dickson, is well aware of the parking shortage. "It's the biggest problem we've got right now," Crawford said. "We need to get parking resolved. "Fayetteville's mayor said the city is making plans to address the issue. "It's a huge problem," Mayor Dan Coody said. "We go to Dickson Street too. We know there's a problem. "Coody said the city is negotiating with a parking company to build a parking deck in connection with the planned expansion of the Walton Art's Center. That project can't be completed until the center's plans are finalized, he said. Crawford is worried that when the construction of a new garage is in progress, so many spots will be displaced that his and other businesses won't survive to see its completion. Coody said the city is aware of this concern and will take steps to minimize the impact on available parking.
Legal issues The shortage of parking is only one of many challenges facing Barber's Legacy development. The Legacy Building was scheduled for foreclosure sale on Aug. 21 until Barber's limited liability company, Lynnkohn, filed for bankruptcy the day before the sale. The bankruptcy filing indefinitely delays or "stays"the foreclosure by Legacy National Bank. The sale can be rescheduled after a federal bankruptcy judge agrees to lift the stay and allows the foreclosure proceedings to resume. A court-appointed receiver will continue to control the property until the foreclosure and bankruptcy issues have been resolved. Flake and Kelly Management are under contract with the receiver to manage the property and sell the condos and retail and restaurant space - subject to court approval. Barber filed a lawsuit last week claiming the bank and real estate company conspired to postpone all sales until after the foreclosure sale. Marshal Ney, the bank's attorney, has denied Barber's claims.
Condo parking An apparent lack of adequate free parking appeared to hinder the sale of a Legacy luxury condo last week. Only eight of the building's 37 condo have sold, and only a few of the buyers of the remaining units will get more than one parking spot, officials said in court last week. A West Helena attorney, Louis Etoch, offered $ 250 per square foot for one of the unfinished two-bedroom units, but the offer was contingent on getting two parking spaces. He said his brother-in-law is Vaughn Knight, Barber's attorney. The bank opposed the sale and 4 th Judicial Circuit Judge William Storey did not allow it. Storey also denied the sale of about 5, 000 square feet of restaurant space for $ 700, 000, after Barber objected and said he thought it was worth upwards of $ 1 million. Barber would not comment, but his assistant, Stacey McSpadden, said in an interview that the bank should have allowed the buyer to have two parking spots since he wanted a unit with two bedrooms.
McSpadden said that the problem with parking at Legacy was overstated in court last week when it was called a mess.
"Yes, there's not enough, but if it's managed, you can make it work," she said.
The receiver testified that the Legacy parking area is considered one unit and individual parking spaces cannot be properly conveyed in a sale. He's not sure how to fix the problem.
The plan for the development included retaining ownership of the parking garage and leasing parking spaces to residential tenants of the building, McSpadden explained. That could still work, she said.
The Legacy Building has a total of 50 parking spaces, including 11 for current residents, six for the restaurant and two for handicapped people. Only 31 parking spots are available for the remaining 29 residential units, Ney said.
McSpadden disagrees with Ney's allocation of six spots for the restaurant.
She admits that the limited parking may eliminate some potential buyers, but she believes that the parking garage is attractive to certain buyers.
"It's always been a selling point - covered and secured parking," she said.
FEEDBACK:
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online
