Residential Development in Downtown Hot Springs

Ever since the historic Majestic Hotel was destroyed by a fire in February of 2014, the city of Hot Springs has been looking for and promoting new redevelopment of the downtown area. A new article by Arkansas Business indicates that these efforts have not only shown promise, but also yielded real results for the district!

According to Hot Springs Metro Partnership's downtown development director Cole McCaskill, 2015 was a banner year for redevelopment. McCaskill reports that 15 commercial real estate transactions and more than $21 million in capital investment were completed last year in the downtown area, including more than $8 million in sales.

Furthermore, downtown witnessed 19 new business openings in calendar year 2015, compared to just five closings. “It’s a huge trend up from past years,” McCaskill said.

The numbers show the truth of his statement, as 2014 boasted only seven commercial real estate transactions, about $3 million in sales, and three new businesses.

Jason Taylor is one of the people responsible for the huge turnaround. According to Taylor, more money was spent on commercial real estate in downtown Hot Springs in 2015 than in the 10 previous years combined. In fact, he purchased the seven-story First Federal Building in July for $1.1 million, with plans to renovate the property into high-end condos and a first-floor restaurant. The project should be completed in the spring.

Source: New Residential Development Underway at Downtown Hot Springs