Developers Plan $28 Million Hotel in North Little Rock

The New Argenta Fund on Tuesday announced plans for a $28 million hotel in North Little Rock's Argenta District, which would open in 2010.

The hotel will be built in the former location of Rye Furniture at the corner of Broadway and Maple streets, near the North Shore Riverwalk and Dickey-Stephens Ballpark. It will be operated by a national brand, which the New Argenta Fund said will be announced "in the coming months."

The hotel will be eight to 12 stories tall and have 130 guest rooms, 25,000-SF of meeting and event space and 15,000-SF of retail and restaurant space. A parking deck with 300 spaces planned to sit adjacent to the hotel.

"This is a needed addition to the growing Argenta District," John Gaudin, a partner with New Argenta Fund, said in a news release. "We wanted to bring in a concept that wouldn't compete with the neighboring Wyndham Hotel, but complement it. This hotel will help continue our growing tourism base and will offer needed jobs to area residents."

The fund said the hotel will feature "extensive meeting and business conference space."

The Wyndham sits just across W. 2nd St. from the Rye Furniture site at 201 Main St. Gaudin's Maple Holdings from Rye Wholesale Furniture Co., led by Stanley Brad-shaw Jr. Rye Furniture closed in 2006.

Formerly a Hilton, the Wyndham is owned by Frank Fletcher’s F.F. Hotels Inc. In 2002, the hotel signed a 10-year franchise agreement with publicly traded Wyndham International Inc. of Dallas.

The hotel, which was renovated in 2001, features 220 guest rooms; a fitness center and business center; an outdoor pool; 13,300 SF of meeting space; and two restaurants: Benihana’s Japanese Restaurant and the Riverfront Restaurant & Steakhouse.

In a news release, North Little Rock Mayor Patrick Hays said adding to downtown overnight-stay options will give the city "more opportunities to have people on our streets and on their feet ­ to enjoy all of the entertainment, business, educational and leisure activities that North Little Rock has to offer."

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