Bruce Maxwell, project manager for Park Residences Development LLC, owner of the Majestic Hotel properties, told the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality on Friday that enough bids have been received that contract negotiations can begin.
"This is my notice, due Dec. 20, that I am still on schedule with both negotiating contracts and getting the Hot Springs permits," he said in an email to Tammy Hynum, chief of the ADEQ hazardous waste division.
ADEQ approved a cleanup plan earlier this year for the removal of the debris left on Park Avenue after the "yellow brick building," the oldest portion of the Majestic Hotel complex, burned on Feb. 27. The building was razed on Feb. 28 and March 1 to alleviate concerns that it posed a safety hazard.
In early December, ADEQ gave Park Residences Development and its manager, Garrison Hassenflu, until today to furnish it with a progress report on the submitted cleanup timeline.
"Today (Friday), I will again ask Bart Jones (neighborhood services administrator for the city's planning and development department) to give me the forms for the required $50 demolition permit. Because of the holidays, both Christmas and New Year, I will not be able to go to Hot Springs to do the final negotiations with the selected low bidders until the week of Jan. 5. When we submitted the plan in calendar days, I didn't see the dates involved until I submitted the calendar, or I would have made allowances for the holidays," Maxwell said in the email.
"As we clearly stated before, our plan is contingent on financing payment of the contracts," he said, noting that "a big obstacle has been cleared and we are optimistic about the project's advancement."
In a separate release, Don Erler, with Sperry Van Ness Auction Services, which was conducting an online auction for the Majestic property, said the auction was officially closed at 3 p.m. Thursday, and Park Residences Development will evaluate the proposals received and negotiate with the parties that have expressed an interest in the property.
Erler said a Garland County Circuit Court judge struck down a "non-valid" lien claim of a local architect in the amount of $700,000 on Wednesday, and that ruling "clears the way for the future funding of the cleanup of the Majestic fire disaster in conformance with the disaster management plan approved by ADEQ earlier this year."
Erler said Hassenflu has announced he is making insurance funds available to begin the work, and "feels confident that with that cloud on Park Residences Development title removed by the court, the remaining funding can now be arranged."
Erler also said the owner of the property believes the highest and best use of the property is a historic redevelopment of the "red brick building," the Lanai Tower and the Lanai Suites as a 130-room boutique spa hotel, with a 12,000-square-foot conference center incorporated into the existing structure.
"A portion of the fire site would be used as parking for the new hotel, and the remaining pad site will be marketed as a new main bank facility, restaurant or other first-class commercial use," he said in the release.
Local on 12/20/2014