The former Hotel Freiderica at 625 W. Capitol Ave. in Little Rock is set to re-open early next year as a Fairfield Inn by Marriott, according to co-owner Parth Patel of VIPA Hospitality.
Patel acquired the property through Hotel LE Little Rock LLC in 2020 for about $1.7 million.
Patel is renovating the property, which he said was severely vandalized during the COVID pandemic.
The Hotel Freiderica was closed by the state in 2019 for failure to remit sales taxes to the Department of Finance & Administration. It was then sold at auction.
The historic six-story hotel, which opened in 1914, was developed by Little Rock businessman Fred Allsopp and was named for his wife Freiderica, according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas. The hotel was later known as the Hotel Sam Peck, Hotel Frederica and Legacy Hotel.
It is the second oldest hotel in Little Rock behind the Capital Hotel.
The property went through several owners before VIPA acquired it in 2020.
Patel, who also owns hotels in Hot Springs and Chicago, is taking advantage of state and federal historic tax credits to make the project financially viable.
“That’s the only way that some of these projects can be viable, by using these tax credit programs,” he said.
Patel said he’s hopeful the hotel will open in January.
Sign up for Daily E-news
