Update: North Little Rock Development Will Change Riverfront Area

Hundreds of families will someday be living on the banks of the Arkansas River in North Little Rock. That's because a developer is building a new urbanized neighborhood there, hoping to revitalize the older part of town.

The area we're talking about is just west of Dickey Stephens Park, right along the river banks.

The North Little Rock city council is creating special incentives with something called a TIF district to help fund the project.

What's empty and sort of run down land now will someday be the epicenter of a new residential, urbanized development. Developer Lisa Ferrell has been dreaming up the project for five years. Called Rockwater Village, it has personal meaning to her.

Ferrell says, "I grew up in North Little Rock and my husband grew up in a historic setting, so the opportunity to do two things make a contribution to the city of North Little Rock and to help revitalize a wonderful historic neighborhood, those are very exciting things for us."

The neighborhood will have a town square around an old chimney on the property. It will have a giant traffic circle in the middle to welcome vehicles.

Ferrell says, "It'll be easy to walk. there will be front porches so neighbors can talk with one another."

In order to help Ferrell and her husband fund the project and surrounding infrastructure the city has created what's called a TIF district in a nearby subdivision.

The Baring Cross area is the neighborhood the city council is expected to designate for the TIF area. Some of the taxes paid by property owners will help fund the new project. In turn, property values here should go up.

North Little Rock Mayor Pat Hays says with climbing property values in this neighborhood, residents will eventually have to pay more to stay here.

Hays says, "If someone was there and never intended to leave, they would pay a higher property tax bill but at the same time if they sold that property or needed to borrow against that property the value will significantly climb."

The developers are also working to get the Baring Cross neighborhood to be designated as a historic area. They've already purchased some of those homes and restored them to their original look.

The developers will build environmentally friendly homes in accordance with the LEED national standards in Rockwater Village.

For more information on the new development, click on the web link here.