Conway, AR January 19, 2006 — Bentonville based Seayco Group and Conway retailer EM Jeans joined the Conway Downtown Partnership in announcing $3.7 million worth of renovation and new construction projects in downtown Conway. EM Jeans, a Conway retailer for twenty years will invest $1.2 million in a new flagship store on the corner of Oak and Chesnut Streets. The announcement came on the three-year anniversary of a fire that destroyed more than 14,000 square feet of historic retail space at that location. EM will occupy 5,000 sq. ft. of the new 10,000 sq. ft. building, and the remaining space will be available for lease. There will be private parking behind the building.

EM Jeans is a nationally known denim retailer. In October 2005, Teen Vogue voted EM as one of the Top 10 denim retailers in the United States. The store sells more Silver Jeans than any other single location in the nation, and they have the largest selection of premium denim in the south.

Owners Larry Rogers and Liz Snipan hope their investment will encourage additional developers. Snipan said, “EM Jeans has some influence within the fashion industry. We try to stay ahead of the curve. We think our location and building should be just as “fashion forward."

Seayco Group, Inc. will complete a $2.5 million renovation on the Halter Building. Constructed in 1917, the Halter Building is a 34,000 sq. ft., three story structure at the corner of Oak and Front Streets in downtown Conway. The building has been an important part of the city’s history. The upper floors contained many of the city’s earlymedical offices and Greeson’s

Drug Store occupied the building’s corner for years as a local teen hangout. Many longtime Conway residents consider the Halter Building to be downtown’s signature structure.

Downtown’s first mixed use facility will have street level restaurant and retail space, second-floor offices, and third-floor loft-style apartments. Although many new tenants will be announced in future weeks, at least one long term tenant will remain. Fletcher Smith Jewelers has been in the same storefront since 1919.

The Halter Building is Seayco’s first downtown project. Company Vice President, Christopher Seay said, “There are few times in the life of a developer, when you have the opportunity to do a project that is as meaningful to a community as the Halter Building is to Conway. It is the appropriate time in the history of the city to do a project of this magnitude.”

The building’s lead tenant will be Michaelangelo’s, a 6,200 sq. ft. Italian restaurant. The most distinctive feature of the restaurant will be a rooftop dining terrace on the building’s third floor, accessible by a lobby elevator. Upper floors will include translucent skylights, original pressed tin ceilings, and exposed brickwork.

With two major developments already under the city’s belt this year and a full slate of infrastructure improvements scheduled, Conway Mayor Tab Townsell calls the downtown resurgence “a model of collaboration and community.” Townsell added that “the stars of public, private and nonprofit have lined up to create a truly thriving downtown.”