HomeMy WebLinkAboutCover Letter 112124Just Peachy
doingjustpeachy.com
@justpeachylr
hello@doingjustpeachy.com
I write this letter today to request the issuance of a conditional use permit in order for
our company, Just Peachy, to utilize the existing property at 305 Main Street for our new
primary place of business, which will include an event space.
The story of Just Peachy begins on Main Street at Loblolly, one of the most beloved
Little Rock-born businesses. In 2017, our founder and co-owner, Christen Byrd, was the
Creative Director at Loblolly and had the simple idea to do an organic balloon
installation at their shop. After it went up, they were inundated for weeks with
customers asking who did it and how they could get the same thing for their business.
And that’s when Just Peachy was born.
Since the o!cial formation of Just Peachy in 2019, the company has gone from Christen
doing solo balloon installations to a full-time creative team who does start-to-finish
events — from full-service planning to decor to logistics to design . The one glaring
piece of the event equation that’s missing from our services and that’s the most
consistent challenge for our clients is an adequate event space.
We have a high-end clientele who are looking for beautiful, safe, adequately-sized
spaces for their events, ranging from corporate events (luncheons, holiday parties,
company milestones, etc) to birthday parties to baby showers to family events and any
and all events where the sweet spot is often 50 - 100 in attendance.
We aren’t starting a nightclub. We certainly will not be a nuisance to surrounding
businesses. Candidly, we don’t cater to the kind of clientele who will bring trouble to
downtown Little Rock.
This space will be an extension of the solid, trustworthy reputation we’ve built in Little
Rock and throughout central Arkansas. We’ll build a presence in downtown Little Rock
that’s highly engaged in the downtown community (of which we already have a well-
established relationship) and who’s a valued partner to surrounding businesses.
So what exactly do we plan to do to and in the building?
The building is a beautiful, historic property who, like some other buildings in the area,
has fallen victim to inadequate care over many years and even decades. The owner of
the building, Josh Malone, has been working to restore the exterior of the building to its
historic facade and make it more consistent with the buildings surrounding it. Upon
leasing the space from Josh, we plan to make a considerable investment in upgrading
and building out the interior to suit the needs of our business. We plan to work with Josh
to make sure we keep the historic elements of the building, while modernizing it in ways
that will fit our business needs as well as prepare the building for robust usage for years
and decades to come. Frankly, it’s an investment in downtown Little Rock as much as it
is for just our business alone.
The buildout will lead to three primary uses for our company. The first is that my day-to-
day o!ce/workspace will be in the front of the building. When someone from the
general public enters the space, I will most often be the one to greet them. Second, the
November 18, 2024
Re: Conditional Use Permit Application
back of the building (roughly 500 sq ft) will be used as a workspace and prep area for
events where our team members (anywhere from 1−3 people) will work. The final use is
the reason for this conditional use permit: an event space. The largest amount of square
footage (roughly ~2,000 sq ft) will be where we host events. We’ll o$er tables and
chairs to guests and the rest of the space can be largely customized with decor,
furniture, and just about any configuration that suits their event’s needs.
While most events occur from Friday through Sunday, we do plan to have consistent
usage of the building throughout the week. First and foremost, as noted, I’ll be in the
building on a day-to-day basis working, but we also plan to host events throughout the
week. Events like corporate luncheons and nonprofit events and small evening birthday
parties are common midweek usages in event spaces.
We think this building has some strategic location advantages as it relates to downtown
parking. First, we’ll have street parking immediately along Main Street in both
directions, including several spots directly outside the door of the building. Second, we
think it’s a particular advantage to be essentially next door to one of the largest parking
decks in downtown (201 Main Street) as well as one of the larger surface lots at 412 Main.
Finally, we plan to approach our neighboring businesses and hopefully partner with
them on the great valet parking services they’re already o$ering.
Speaking of neighboring businesses, to my earlier point, we’re particularly excited
about being a part of the immediate surrounding community of the 300 block of Main
Street. What’s a more natural compliment to the restaurants and bars on that block?
How about bringing dozens of people on a regular basis for bespoke, high-end events
who are looking for lunch before or dinner after their event, drinks after their event, or
catering during their event? It’s a natural fit, so we’re incredibly excited to become a
part of that community and help to be a business who continues to fuel the exciting
things that are happening in downtown Little Rock.
We believe we’ll be a valued neighbor to the existing businesses in the area and part of
that is ensuring that our business and the events therein will be safe and considerate.
There’s three ways we’ll work to make that a reality.
First, we’ll require security at events hosted in our space. A police/security presence is a
natural deterrent to incidents and it also gives an assurance to both guests and
neighbors that our expectation is a peaceful, orderly presence in our space.
Second, having put on and organized so events over the years, we know that alcohol
plays a key role in the safety, security, and tone of an event. Because of that, frankly, we
don’t plan to get into the business of providing alcohol to our guests. Rather, if they
desire it to be a part of their event, they must hire a professional bartender who will be
responsible both for providing these services as well as adhering to a strict set of
protocols we’ll put in place outlining rules regarding consumption, limits, and time
frames allowed for service.
Finally, we’ll have a strict cuto$ time for events. To be clear, we will not allow events that
go on into the early morning hours. A more realistic cuto$ time for our events will be
10:00pm, though the exact time hasn’t been ultimately set. For the overwhelming
majority of events we plan for clients, that’s a reasonable and often requested ending
time (if not earlier). It’s rare that we have an event go, at at the latest, past 11:00pm.
Ultimately, we’re confident that if you approve our request for this conditional use
permit, we’ll be a business the city of Little Rock can be proud of and who helps it to
continue to be the greatest downtown in the entire state of Arkansas.
Thank you for your consideration,
Ryan Byrd
Owner & Company Lead, Just PeachyJust Peachy
1821 Broadway St
Little Rock, AR 72206