Downtown Condos in Little Rock (Clinton: subletting, apartments, renting)

[SherryZ]

I'm considering a move to Little Rock and want to try condo living in the downtown area. Pricewise, two of the places that look promising are The Cliffs on North Street and Lafayette Square on S. Louisiana St. Does anyone here have opinions on these two places, their immediate area or downtown living in general? I'm up for either renting/subletting or buying a place. The two buildings I'm looking at have what I want in the low to mid 100's, which is my price range.

The Cliffs is right on the river and the walking path that goes all the way to the Clinton Library runs past it. Is it safe to walk this day or night, esp. as a woman alone? I love to walk for exercise and this could be great if it's not one of those "not by yourself" deals.

Is downtown traffic bad? I'm used to big city (million plus population) traffic, which can be quite congested during the usual times. When I was downtown in LR before, the traffic during the off day hours seemed quite reasonable.

Thanks for any guidance anyone has!

[SherryZ]

Ok, does anyone have general info about downtown living, if not specific? Any thoughts on the walking path on the south side of the Arkansas river?

[Sam I Am]

I did answer this a while back and then deleted my answer for fear of negative reviews, which I may get anyway.

I wouldn't be walking on that walking path after dusk as a woman alone. There is a serious contingent of the homeless that are down there - and not that there's anything wrong with being homeless, but as we all know there is a significant amount of mental illness among those who are displaced. I'm thinking it's fairly safe in the daytime - there's so much more activity downtown than there used to be.

The Cliffs are the ones directly north of the police department? All I've heard was from a long time ago, that they were party central. That may have changed.

Will you be working downtown? Lafayette is right in the middle of everything. Easy walking distance to Robinson Auditorium, River Market, all the venues on the river, etc. Easy on and off the freeway to get to NLR or head west. I'd think that would be a pretty cool place to be...and the photos look really nice.

I think downtown traffic in rush hour and the middle of the day is hideous - well, I used to until I visited Atlanta recently. Now it seems like a walk in the park :-)

I have friends who live in Quapaw, which is really further south, and they wouldn't live anywhere else. I avoid crowds like the plague so I'm probably not the best to ask, but that's it in a nutshell.

[SherryZ]

Thanks so much for your reply! I work from home, so I don't have to pick an area based on a commute to work. Lafayette has big condos and would definitely be living in the heart of downtown, which appeals to me. Thanks again for your answer, as it's helpful.

[thewizard16]

Sorry for the delay in noticing this thread. Lafayette would be my pick hands down of the two. The Cliffs feel like fancy college student apartments, whereas Lafayette feels more like downtown condos should (and is actually located in the heart of downtown, unlike the Cliffs). I think the finishes are a bit nicer at Lafayette, and the lobby is beautiful (the building makes quite an impression when you first walk into it, or when people come to visit, which is a nice quality for a condo building to have IMO). It's also worth considering that there is finally some development momentum going on on Main (very near the Lafayette Square development) and the property values there as well as the neighborhood amenities are only going to increase from where they are now. If I remember right parking is a less than ideal at the Lafayette, but it's not too bad compared to larger cities and some of those buildings. If I were buying downtown right now and wasn't in the River Market Tower kind of budget, I'd probably buy at Lafayette and watch the rest of the neighborhood grow up around me.

If you're interested in some of the redevelopment projects underway near the building, there is a Main Street Little Rock thread on a development forum I can PM you if you like. Good luck with your search!

[SherryZ]

Thanks so much for your input. Feel free to give me the link to the other thread.

[IHeartLR]

Hi, if you are still active here please send me the link to the Main Street thread too