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► New Park Plaza Owners Foresee Thriving Community Hub
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Park Plaza Mall in Little Rock is getting creative with empty spaces at the shopping center, which has about a 90% occupancy rate that its owners are looking to keep high.
The mall, at Markham Street and University Avenue in midtown, announced on Thursday the opening of Zero Empty Spaces, a working artist studio, later this month.
In an announcement on Thursday, Second Horizon Capital of Boca Raton, Florida, said Zero Empty Spaces will offer local working artists affordable spaces to create their art, engage with local residents and promote and sell their works to shoppers.
Camilo Varela, a co-founder and managing partner of Second Horizon, which bought the mall for $25.2 million a year ago, said in a statement that the space will be a creative nexus for the community.
“We are proud to offer this exciting new space in the heart of Little Rock,” Valera said.
“Zero Empty Spaces provides a unique service connecting artists and the community and will serve as a new cultural destination for the region.”
The studio will be on the mall’s third floor, near H&M, and offer space to accommodate up to 11 artists renting various spaces in a month-to-month model. It will let shoppers view the artistic process and support creators by buying their works.
The studio will be Zero Empty Spaces’ 31st location and its third outside Florida. Officials said Little Rock’s “collaborative spirit and strong support from the local art community” attracted Zero Empty Spaces to Park Plaza.
“Park Plaza is a perfect location to further Zero Empty Spaces’ mission of fostering collaboration, creativity, and affordability,” Andrew Martineau, Zero Empty Spaces co-founder and managing partner, said in a news release. “We are excited to contribute to Little Rock’s growing and thriving arts and cultural scene, and we look forward to providing this vibrant space that will become invaluable for the community.”
An open house to give artists a preview of the space is set for noon to 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 6. Various studio sizes are available, ranging from 85 to 288 SF.
Over the past seven months, Park Plaza has added three new tenants, not counting No Empty Spaces: Eukivi Products, featuring skin, hair and wellness products; JD Sports, selling sneakers, clothing and accessories; and clothing outfitter Stated X Wild.
The mall is hoping to fill a food court vacancy and find a restaurant for the space last taken by Zoe’s Kitchen on the center’s south side, Varela and Second Horizon co-founder Howard Levine told Arkansas Business in February.
“We’re very focused on transforming the assets of Park Plaza, on giving the community a resilient economic catalyst,” Varela said in a telephone interview. “We’re dedicated to the vision [of a community hub], and we’re in year one of a long-term revitalization.”
Zero Empty Spaces was featured by LoopNet in December as one of 2023’s most notable alternative uses for mall space. It can be a win-win, LoopNet wrote, with artists getting space at an affordable price, as well as better exposure, and mall owners getting revenue and visibility as they look for longer-term tenants.
Since Second Horizon bought the mall, JLL of Chicago has been providing leasing and management services.
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