LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The historic Boyle Building along Capitol and Main is over 100 years old. It was once considered Little Rock's second skyscraper, but now it’s been empty for almost 25 years.
“I've been driving by that eyesore for a long time and it's bugged me every time,” said Arkansas AG Tim Griffin.
On Tuesday, Griffin announced that the building won't be empty for much longer.
“We're already talking about what's next. What comes next in this community,” said Griffin.
Construction is set to begin in the next 30 days. The Boyle building will be home to a new restaurant, coffee shop, and home to the attorney general’s office.
Kyle Leyenberger with the Downtown Little Rock Partnership said that this is a big deal for the heart of downtown.
“Downtowns are really one of the largest economic engines of a city and so it's really important that we have these buildings occupied and have people down here,” said Leyenberger.
The goal is for the $35-million project to be completed by next October.
This isn't the only project that's set to start in the downtown area. Leyenberger said in the next 3 years, downtown will look a lot different.
“We have some major investment happening over at the library. They are redoing their main campus. There's a new green space that's opening,” said Leyenberger. “At the Heifer building we have Lyon College moving in. That's going to be a huge investment, as well as the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra building a new building that they're going to announce later this week.”