The pandemic-fueled acceleration of home prices in the Little Rock market failed to register in a high-profile residential niche: Condominium sales in downtown’s 300 Third and River Market Tower projects didn’t inspire the same buying fervor that sent single-family home prices soaring.
Since 2020, Little Rock’s two biggest upscale condo projects recorded 78 sales.
Of those transactions, fewer than half increased in value from when the space first sold between 2006 and 2018.
In all, 33 of the 78 condo sales brought a price that surpassed the amount paid by its original buyer. But even among the units that appreciated in price, most increased by less than 10% between the first sale and the last.
As tastes and market forces evolved, condo prices didn’t hold up after an initial rush of buyers.
That was especially true at 300 Third, which was completed nearly 17 years ago. Only one of its 29 sales from 2020 through March beat the original price.
That transaction involved an 830-SF condo on the seventh floor, which sold for $230,000 in 2007 versus $235,000 last year.
Margaret Bell, with The Property Group in Little Rock, said local condo prices in general were climbing until the pandemic. Then buyers began putting a higher value on space, both indoor and outdoor.
“They haven’t appreciated as much (as single-family houses),” she said of condos. “They were going up, but that changed with the transition in the COVID world.”
Bell, a sales leader in the upscale condo market, notes that prospective buyers typically are looking for living space that doesn’t require much remodeling or additional investment. They want a unit that is up-to-date in its decor and furnishings.
“Excluding a fire sale, they expect it to be looking brand new with all the current bells and whistles,” she said.
For homeowners in Little Rock, luxury high-rise living remains an acquired taste, she said. They blend a gated-community structure with apartment-style social amenities including clubhouses, party rooms, community pools and fitness centers.
“The amenities are top-notch and include concierge service, EV charging stations and pickleball courts,” Bell said. “Prices have gone up for services, and condo fees have gone up.”
The low-maintenance lifestyle of condos comes with the added cost of ongoing monthly fees to pay for all the extras as well as the cost of maintaining common areas and keeping multi-story columns of windows clean.
The average homeowners association fee is $740 per month at 300 Third and $840 at River Market Tower, according to highrises.com. The square footage of a unit is the major component in the monthly fee formula.
A top-end example at 300 Third: A 2,669-SF condo on the 16th floor carries a monthly homeowners association fee of $1,398. Over at River Market Tower, a 2,954-SF condo on the 18th floor bears a monthly HOA fee of $1,629.
Condo owners at the towers cross the demographic spectrum. There are singles and married couples of all ages as well as young families with kids.
“It’s a mixed bag right now,” Bell said. “We continue to get a lot of out-of-state people downtown who are coming to work here.”
Flipping Weather Vane
300 Third and River Market Tower hit the market in dramatically different business climates and attracted dissimilar buyers.
Residential real estate was riding an upward trend that seemed to have no end in sight when Little Rock’s Moses Tucker Real Estate unveiled 300 Third.
The shiny new address drew brisk sales from profit-minded buyers who wanted a piece of the highrise, which featured condos on floors 5-17 atop parking and ground-level retail.
“A lot of our condos at 300 Third were sold to investors and speculators,” said Jimmy Moses, chairman of Moses Tucker Partners. “Whereas most all of the sales at River Market Tower from the get-go were to people who intended to live there.”
Construction of 300 Third began with a September 2005 loan of $28.3 million from Little Rock’s Metropolitan National Bank. Emboldened by the rapid pace of sales at the glass and steel tower, Moses Tucker moved forward on an even
larger and grander residential high-rise: River Market Tower.
Construction of the 19-story edifice launched after a May 2007 loan of $47.6 million loan also from Metropolitan. Less than a year before a bursting real estate bubble, the timing of the project would turn it into a looming tower of stress for Moses Tucker.
But the firm soldiered through the insolvency of Metropolitan and a condo market that was suddenly not so hot any more.
“When we started River Market Tower, we were competing with people at 300 Third with newer product and more upscale space with different floor plans,” Moses said. “We didn’t have the option of dramatically cutting our sales prices at River Market Tower. We had to protect our customers there in 2015 when we were still selling units.”
Moses described selling out River Market Tower, with residential condos on floors 6-19, as the most difficult challenge of his career.
River Market Tower Sales Since 2020
Original sales were made by River Market Tower LLC or RMT II LLC, both led by Jimmy Moses and Rett Tucker.
2020
- February: Keith Emis bought a 1,517-SF unit on the ninth floor from Michael and Shirley Emis for $240,000. Original sale: $349,000 in March 2015.
- April: Christopher and Kate East purchased a 1,563-SF unit on the 16th floor from Johan Remoy III for $500,000. Original sale: $470,000 in March 2011.
- May: Lorrie Trogden acquired a 1,517-SF unit on the 10th floor from Joshua Miller for $419,000. Original sale: $425,000 in December 2011.
- August: Justin and Cari Reeves bought a 1,362-SF unit on the ninth floor from James and Lee Ann Raulerson for $369,900. Original sale: $348,000 in December 2011.
- September: Jay and Diane Jeffrey purchased a 1,563-SF unit on the eighth floor for $372,000 from the Gattis Living Trust, led by Karen Gattis; and the Patricia Marie Anslow Living Trust. Original sale: $325,000 in June 2018.
- October: Terri New and Stanislav Georglev acquired the $1,234-SF unit on the 17th floor from Tony Cassady for $405,000. Original Sale: $426,000 in July 2009.
- October: Ryan and Seth Moon bought the 999-SF unit on the 12th floor for $305,000 from Mills Fountain Capital LLC, led by Henry McFarlin. Original sale: $310,000 in September 2009.
- December: Michael Hendrixson purchased a $1,517-SF unit on the eighth floor for $358,000 from the Wyant Living Trust, led by Lee Wyant. Original sale: $411,000 in December 2014.
2021
- March: The Henry G. (Hank) McNabb Jr. Living Trust acquired a 1,556-SF unit on the 10th floor from Thomas and Anna Schmidt for $530,000. Original sale: $435,000 in April 2014.
- April: Jefferson and Theresa Stalnaker bought a 1,822-SF unit on the 14th floor from John and Kay Tatum for $580,000. Original sale: $450,000 in December 2012.
- April: Cathy Dickinson purchased a 1,358-SF unit on the 14th floor from Jefferson and Theresa Stalnaker for $376,500. Original sale: $375,000 in October 2016.
- April: Eric and Madonna Parks acquired a 1,358-SF unit on the 12th floor from John and Christina Bohannon for $357,000. Original sale: $324,000 in March 2018.
- June: Christopher Green bought a 757-SF unit on the 14th floor from Jefferson and Theresa Stalnaker for $212,500. Original sale: $220,000 in June 2012.
- August: Lawrence Johnston purchased a 1,842-SF unit on the 15th floor from Stephen and Ashley Peeples for $565,000. Original sale: $555,000 in September 2015.
- October: Laura Sherrill acquired 1,234-SF unit on the eighth floor from Mary Casteel for $334,500. Original sale: $329,000 in September 2014.
- October: Darryl Ross bought a 1,563-SF unit on the seventh floor from Brent and Medina Lawlis for $335,000. Original sale: $315,000 in June 2018.
- December: David Sargent purchased a 1,376-SF unit on the sixth floor from David Cash for $468,000. Original sale: $375,000 in June 2014.
- December: Derek Pierce and Bethany Brown acquired the 2,379-SF unit on the 12th floor from Steve and Alicia Rucker for $749,000. Original sale: $648,000 in June & July 2013.
- December: Kendall Reese bought a 823-SF unit on the 17th floor from Scott Sosebee for $254,000. Original sale: $257,000 in December 2012.
2022
- March: Sharron Schimmel and Brittany Napper purchased a 1,234-SF unit on the 10th floor for $330,000 from Dingman Capital LLC, led by William Dingman. Original sale: $305,000 in July 2016.
- March: Halsey Properties LLC, led by Jerry Halsey Jr., Cheri Halsey and Barbara Halsey and Gary Harpol, acquired the 1,234-SF unit on the 10th floor from Susan El-Khoury for $400,000. Original sale: $316,000 in April 2017.
- March: Genent LLC, led by Zachary Lawson, bought a 1,234-SF unit on the ninth floor from Bob Aguiar for $295,000. Original sale: $324,000 in May 2015.
- May: Aspen Property Acquisitions LLC, led by Christopher Jackson, purchased a 999-SF unit on the 14th floor from the Thomas F. Shock Trust for $450,000. Original sale: $356,000 in June 2009.
- June: Melanie Martin acquired a 1,358-SF unit on the 16th floor from Rebecca Whelan for $375,000. Original sale: $389,000 in December 2013.
- July: Grant Williams bought a 1,362-SF unit on the 17th floor from Lee Anne Eddy for $419,000. Original sale: $420,000 in May 2014.
- July: Ryan Rauch purchased a 1,563-SF unit on the seventh floor from Stuart Hoke for $375,000. Original sale: $369,000 in February 2018.
- August: Deborah and Danny Finch acquired a 1,338-SF unit on the sixth floor from Elizabeth and Robert Barnes for $529,000. Original sale: $382,000 in January 2012.
- August: The Thomas F. Shock Trust bought a 757-SF unit on the 10th floor for $208,000 from Miller Investment Group LLC, led by Joshua and Phillip Miller. Original sale: $200,000 in August 2015.
- August: Hill Land & Investment LLC, led by Cynthia Hill, purchased a 1,358-SF unit on the ninth floor for $325,000 from Southern Comfort Inns Inc., led by Amin Amarish. Original sale: $345,000 in May 2014.
- August: Donald Deaton acquired a 1,358-SF unit on the 13th floor from David Nagy for $360,000. Original sale: $354,000 in August 2017.
- September: Jacob Hall bought a 1,234-SF unit on the 16th floor from David Reid III for $403,000. Original sale: $375,000 in July 2014.
- September: Steve Grandfield purchased a 1,234-SF unit on the ninth floor from LaTonia George for $330,000. Original sale: $320,000 in December 2015.
- September: Charles and Shari Daughtry acquired a 1,362-SF unit on the seventh floor from the Susan Thell Hurt estate for $350,000. Original Sale: $334,000 in November 2016.
- November: Brian Anderson bought a 1,563-SF unit on the eighth floor from Michael and Bari Sells for $432,750. Original sale: $408,000 in June 2017.
- December: Barry Blake purchased a 2,115-SF unit on the 15th floor for $705,000 from Workroom Investments LLC, led by Bradley Workman. Original sale: $508,000 in November 2017.
2023
- March: Movert Four LLC, led by Stephen LaFrance Jr., acquired a 1,563-SF unit on the 16th floor for $494,118 from Sheon LLC, led by James Smith and Rebecca Hurst. Original sale: $480,000 in October 2010.
- March: Nicholas Roberts bought a 1,563-SF unit on the 13th floor from Brad and Amy Baltz for $450,000. Original sale: $450,000 in June 2013.
- May: Karen and William Whatley III purchased a 1,362-SF on the 15th floor from Gerson Teran for $380,000. Original sale: $395,000 in April 2015.
- June: Derek Grills acquired a 999-SF unit on the 15th floor for $324,000 from the Harrison L. XXVIII Trust, led by Sarah Lange. Original sale: $328,000 in June 2009.
- June: The Douglas Stevenson Revocable Trust bought a 1,517-SF unit on the seventh floor from the 2007 Beth M. Cook Revocable Trust for $419,500. Original sale: $437,000 in June 2009.
- June: Joseph Stinziano purchased a 757-SF unit on the 11th floor from James Snapp for $225,000. Original sale: $205,000 in March 2016.
- July: Benson Gribsby and Angela Biscomb acquired a 1,556-SF unit on the seventh floor from Scott and Christine Worth for $430,000. Original sale: $418,000 in April 2015.
- July: Tatiana and Carlo Puntarelli bought a 1,234-SF unit on the 11th floor from Lily Vinson for $337,500. Original sale: $284,000 in September 2017.
- July: Gordon and Amy Schally purchased a 1,362-SF unit on the eighth floor from John Pettersen for $325,000. Original sale: $355,000 in February 2016.
- August: Michael and Kristi Wilson acquired a 1,563-SF unit on the ninth floor from Brett and Shenene Dingler for $455,000. Original sale: $435,000 in August 2013.
- October: William Horton bought a 757-SF unit on the seventh floor from Roger Chinn and Janice Harris for $221,000. Original sale: $200,000 in April 2013.
- October: Christy Bishop and Jerry Huddleston purchased a 1,563-SF unit on the 10th floor from Madhusudan Budhraja for $425,000. Original sale: $406,000 in February 2015.
2024
- January: The Bryan W. Watkins Revocable Trust acquired a 2,001-SF unit on the 16th floor from Robert and Nell Lyford for $700,000. Original sale: $691,000 in June 2009.
- March: Shontel Stott and Joseph Lee bought a 975-SF unit on the 12th floor from Danny and Theta Wilson for $245,000. Original sale: $224,000 in January 201017.
300 Third Condo Sales Since 2020
All original sales are by 300 Third LLC, led by Jimmy Moses and Rett Tucker, when the space was first sold.
2020
- March: David and Donna Slider bought a 1,535-SF unit on the 10th floor from Brian and Melinda Strickland for $420,000. Original sale: $486,000 in April 2007.
- April: Kelley Linck purchased a 1,945-SF unit on the 13th floor from Pat and Jessie Adcock and James and Arlene Hardwick for $492,500. Original sale: $640,000 in May 2007.
- December: Guy Cerrato acquired an 830-SF unit on the 11th floor from Elizabeth Parker for $210,000. Original sale: $241,000 in May 2007.
- 2021
- March: Albert Yarnell II bought an 1,863-SF unit on the 10th floor from Christopher Liberto and Katy Marino for $510,000. Original sale: $553,000 in June 2007.
- April: Karen Whitehead and Linda Lockwood purchased a 959-SF unit on the eighth floor for $240,000 from Allison Commercial Properties LLC, led by Russell and Juanebe Allison. Original sale: $265,000 in May 2007.
- June: Teri Loven acquired a 959-SF unit on the sixth floor from Michael Enderlin for $203,000. Original sale: $270,000 in August 2007.
- July: The Mark Waldrip Revocable Trust bought a 1,863-SF unit on the eighth floor from Robert and Jane Wayland for $487,500. Original sale: $570,000 in May 2007.
- August: Lisa McDaniel purchased a 1,327-SF unit on the sixth floor for $275,000 from Peay Properties LLC, led by James Rawlins. Original sale: $352,000 in October 2007.
- November: Robert and Tracie Ingraham acquired a 1,905-SF unit on the 12th floor from the Henry L. Nichols Revocable Trust for $535,000. Original sale: $617,000 in April 2007.
- December: Melba Marshall bought a 1,965-SF unit on the 14th floor from Larry and Sheila Vaught for $525,000. Original sale: $625,000 in May 2007.
2022
- March: Harry Phang purchased a 1,045-SF unit on the 13th floor from Charles and Cynthia Fuller for $265,000. Original sale: $318,000 in June 2007.
- April: Nicole Broadway acquired a 1,099-SF unit on the 15th floor from Jay Kim for $215,000. Original sale: $287,000 in April 2006.
- April: James and Allison Sweeney bought a 959-SF unit on the 10th floor from David Herring for $250,000. Original sale: $283,000 in April 2007.
- April: The Bobby Wayne Malone Revocable Trust purchased an 830-SF unit on the eighth floor from John and Vickie Gillespie for $180,000. Original sale: $235,000 in July 2007.
- June: Daniel and Rochelle Lozano acquired an 830-SF unit on the fifth floor from Angela and John Dougan for $232,000. Original sale: $235,000 in July 2007.
- June: Tri-Point Construction Services Inc., led by Robert Daniel Jr., bought a 1,317-SF unit on the seventh floor from Hilary Hunt for $319,000. Original sale: $378,000 in April 2007.
- June: The Roger & Jennifer Glasgow Joint Revocable Trust purchased a 2,224-SF unit on the 15th floor from Charles and Cynthia Fuller for $515,000. Original sale: $568,000 in January 2007.
- June: Kevin Norton acquired a 959-SF unit on the eighth floor from the Shannon Saucy Family Trust for $250,000. Original sale: $272,000 in May 2007.
- July: Mica Strother and Greg Hale bought a 1,535-SF unit on the 10th floor from Joseph Sollaccio for $410,000. Original sale: $457,000 in May 2007.
- September: Gerald Fason Jr. purchased an 899-SF unit on the fifth floor from Catherine Vogt for $227,950. Original sale: $262,000 in April 2007.
- October: Heather and John Conner III acquired a 1,535-SF unit on the ninth floor from Betty Seales for $365,000. Original sale: $453,000 in May 2007.
- October: Floyd and Lisa Stice bought a 1,944-SF unit on the eighth floor from the Roger & Jennifer Glasgow Joint Revocable Trust for $509,000. Original sale: $574,000 in June 2007.
- December: Cecillea Pond-Mayo purchased a 959-SF unit on the sixth floor for $220,000 from 300 E 3rd Street LLC, led by Keith Vogt. Original sale: $225,000 in July 2014.
- December: Jack Reilly Properties LLC acquired a 1,299-SF unit on the ninth floor for $262,500 from the Ack Living Trust, led by Anthony Karklins. Original Sale: $377,000 in May 2007.
2023
- February: David and Erin Homsy bought a 959-SF unit on the 11th floor for $232,000 from Shannon Wynne Sr. and his wife, Kimberly. Original sale: $279,000 in June 2007.
- February: Matthew House purchased an 830-SF unit on the seventh floor from Shawn Andrews for $235,000. Original sale: $229,000 in May 2007.
- May: Bobby and Catherine Bledsoe acquired a 1,327-SF unit on the 10th floor for $302,500 from the Bradley Family Trust, led by Heather and Brent Bradley. Original sale $395,000 in June 2007.
- June: Pouya Hemmati bought a 1,980-SF unit on the 13th floor from Paolo and April Lim for $621,000. Original Sale: $625,000 in May 2007.
2024
- March: Jesse Munn Jr. and his wife, Joni, purchased a 1,299-SF unit on the 10th floor from Bill Dale and Paulina Rojas for $270,000. Original sale: $367,000 in January 2008.
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