A pair of mini-storage projects in southwest Little Rock changed hands in two deals totaling $5.2 million.

SSCP Geyer Springs Rd LLC acquired the 376-unit project at 8015 Geyer Springs Road for $3.16 million, and SSCP Leon Circle LLC purchased the 562-unit project at 6100 Leon Circle for $2.09 million.

The affiliates of Philadelphia’s Self Storage Capital Partners bought the properties from Little Rock Self Storage LLC of Cordova, Tennessee.

The deal is financed with a five-year loan of $7 million from Citigroup Global Markets Realty Corp. of New York.

The 4.88-acre Geyer Springs development previously was tied to an October 2014 mortgage of $1.88 million held by Centennial Bank of Conway.

The property was acquired for $2.35 million more than two years ago from Cubby Hole USA 2 Ltd. of Hallsville, Texas.

The 3.34-acre Leon Circle development previously was linked with a November 2014 mortgage of $1.41 million held by Centennial.

The property was purchased for $1.7 million more than two years ago from Wood Stone Little Rock LLC of Mount Kisco, New York.

Retail Acquisition
A 25,400-SF retail center in west Little Rock tipped the scales at $1.85 million.

9801 West Markham LLC, led by Justin Muller and Andrew Holbert, bought the Markham Square project at 9801 W. Markham St. The seller is Markham Square Holdings LLC, led by Jason LaFrance.

The deal is backed with a five-year loan of $1.8 million from FNBC Bank of Ash Flat.

The 2.31-acre development previously was tied to a March 2016 mortgage of $1.4 million from Relyance Bank of Pine Bluff.

Markham Square Holdings purchased the property for $1.8 million in November 2009 from Markham Square LLC, led by Gene Cauley.

Office-Warehouse Buy
A 45,860-SF office-warehouse in North Little Rock weighed in at $1.65 million.

BlueCoop LLC, led by Robert Bluejacket, Marcia Cooper and Glenn Petkovsek, acquired the Jenkins Enterprises project at 4949 W. Bethany Road.

The seller is JWJ Investments LLC, led by Steve Jenkins.

The deal is funded with a 15-year loan of $1.4 million from Regions Bank of Birmingham, Alabama.

The 4.74-acre location was assembled in two deals totaling $20,000, plus a trade.

The sellers were the city of North Little Rock, $16,000 in March 1983; George and Linda Stancil and Kirview and Clairette Wicker, $4,000 in June 1985; and a land swap with Cemco Inc., led by Buddy York, in December 1989.

Dairy Queen Site
A Dairy Queen development in midtown Little Rock is in motion after a $700,000 land deal.

You Scream Properties University LLC, led by Todd Denton, purchased the 1.4-acre site at 6100 W. 12th St. The seller is BH University Development LLC, led by Brandon Huffman, James Barnes and James Batcheller.

The deal is financed with a three-month loan of $630,000 from Simmons Bank of Pine Bluff.

The property was acquired in June 2013 as part of a $3 million deal with MBC Holdings Worldwide LLC, led by Bruce Burrow and Marty Belz.

C1 Transaction
A 19,000-SF driver training facility in North Little Rock is under new ownership after a $480,000 sale.

Legal Beagle Properties LLC, led by Steven Moss, bought the C1 Truck Driver Training project at 7303 U.S. 70. The seller is Maverick Real Estate LLC, led by Stephen Williams.

Maverick purchased the 7.87-acre property for $332,000 in September 1993 from Williams Properties East Inc., led by Williams.

Heights Home
A 4,724-SF home in Little Rock’s Country Club Heights neighborhood rang up a $1.15 million sale.

Louis and Jolene Wilson acquired the house from 2115 Properties LLC, an affiliate of Riverside Bank led by Stephen Davis and David Matchett.

The deal is backed with a 10-year loan of $1 million from IberiaBank of Lafayette, Louisiana.

The residence previously was linked with a September 2015 mortgage of $1.1 million held by Allied Bank of Mulberry.

Riverside Bank recovered the property from Lane Kidd and Jennifer Matthews Kidd in a $1.37 million foreclosure sale in March 2011.

The house carried $1.52 million of Riverside debt when the foreclosure process began in July 2010.

PV Residence
A 5,000-SF home in west Little Rock’s Pleasant Valley neighborhood drew a $950,000 transaction.

Michael and Katherine Miller purchased the house from Jim Pace Homes LLC. The deal is funded with a 30-year loan of $417,000 from One Bank & Trust of Little Rock.

The residence previously was tied to an April 2016 mortgage of $760,000 held by BancorpSouth Bank of Tupelo, Mississippi.

The land was acquired for $260,000 10 months ago from Shashwat and Falguni Goyal.

Courts House
A 5,477-SF home in The Courts neighborhood of west Little Rock’s Chenal Valley development sold for $565,000.

Judith McDaniel bought the house from Eloy and Megan De La O.

The deal is financed with a 30-year loan of $423,750 from Centennial Bank.

The residence previously was linked with a December 2014 mortgage of $417,000 held by Little Rock’s Bank of the Ozarks.

The property was purchased for $525,000 more than two years ago from John and April McMorran.

Mirabel Abode
A 3,920-SF home in the Mirabel Court neighborhood of west Little Rock’s Chenal Valley development changed hands in a $559,585 transaction.

Christopher Shields acquired the house from Richard Harp Homes Inc. The deal is backed with a 30-year loan of $417,000 from Bank of Little Rock Mortgage Corp.

The residence previously was tied to a March 2016 mortgage of $465,000 held by Gateway Bank of Rison.

The location was bought for $82,000 in December 2015 from Deltic Timber Corp. of El Dorado.

There was almost too much open road for Scott Bennett to contemplate. So the director of the Arkansas Highway & Transportation Department had to narrow his options in January after Gov. Asa Hutchinson asked him to put together a list of the state’s top-priority highway projects.

The National Governors Association, working with Donald Trump’s transition team in the weeks before he was inaugurated president, had sent a letter to the governors asking for potential infrastructure projects.

Trump, in his acceptance speech the day after he was elected, had promised $1 trillion in infrastructure im-provements over the next 10 years. The “Wish List” was a chance to get projects up for consideration.

For Bennett, the problem wasn’t finding something to submit; it was ranking the many possibilities. Like many states, Arkansas has a long list of infrastructure needs and not nearly enough money to even begin to fix them.

“Maybe we should have turned in our 10-year need study that shows there is a $19 billion shortfall, and say ‘Here’s what we need,’ ” Bennett said.

He and his department eventually submitted two bridge projects for Hutchinson’s consideration:

• A 23-mile section of Interstate 69 that includes a bridge, called the Great River Bridge, across the Mississippi River in southeast Arkansas, estimated to cost $910 million; and
• A 13.7-mile section of Interstate 49 with a bridge across the Arkansas River in the Fort Smith area, with a price tag of $380 million.

“What I think is they’re using this as a reason to justify a larger federal program,” Bennett said. “We’ve done this from time to time in the past, either when the administration or someone in Washington is talking about a program. They’ll ask us, ‘How much money could you spend? If you had this size of a program what would you do?’

“I think it is really being done as a way to highlight how many critical needs there are out there just waiting in the wings on funds to be able to build.”

‘Shovel Ready’
Of the two bridge projects, Bennett said the Great River Bridge is the closest to being “shovel ready.” If Bennett had unlimited wishes — or bottomless pockets — he would like to see the entire Interstate 69 segment of Arkansas completed.

I-69 is designed to run from Michigan to Texas with approximately 185 miles running through Arkansas. The Great River Bridge project would connect U.S. 65 near McGehee with Highway 1 in Benoit, Mississippi.

Bennett said the design is mostly finished and the state has the environmental clearances for the work. If money were available, Bennett believes construction could start this year.

“I really believe if you could get that [23-mile] part of it built, it would be a whole lot easier to phase the rest of it in over a period of time,” said Bennett. “That’s the one sticking point. If you can’t get across the river, it doesn’t really do you any good to build the rest of it. You can’t really phase in a river bridge.”

The I-49 bridge project east of Fort Smith would connect Interstate 40 with Highway 22. Bennett said it would have great economic development potential because it would open up more construction opportunities in the Fort Smith area as well as alleviating some traffic congestion.

“I-49 has been another priority for a long time,” Bennett said. “That’s the next logical section.”

Logical, but not as convenient as the Great River Bridge proposal, Bennett said.

“Actually that section of I-49, if the manna were to fall from heaven, it would be difficult, almost impossible to turn dirt on that section this year,” Bennett said. “We don’t have it designed yet. We’ve got environmental clearance, but it’s from several years ago. That has been one of the governor’s priorities, one of his most often-mentioned projects.”

All Needed
Bennett said his department originally submitted several more projects to the governor, then trimmed the wish list back to two. The Trump administration had asked for three to five projects from each state, including infrastructure items such as airports, dams and sea ports.

California, for example, turned in 51 projects with a total price tag of approximately $100 billion. All the projects and all the proposed costs are just planning material until Congress approves an actual infrastructure bill. And when that could happen is anyone’s guess.

“That’s the $1 trillion-over-10-years question,” Bennett said. “We don’t know.”

In December 2015, President Barack Obama signed the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act, which called for $305 billion in infrastructure spending during the next five years. Some estimates predict a revenue shortfall in the the Federal Highway Trust Fund of approximately a $100 billion by 2026.

Bennett said state funds are always badly needed for its own work and to match federal funds as required for joint construction projects. Bennett said Arkansas needs about double the current $400 million in annual revenue for transportation.

“The issue is not specific to Arkansas; it happens in most of the states and even at the federal level,” Bennett said. “It’s not, ‘Do you need more money to invest in a highway program?’ It’s really, how are we going to do it? No one can settle on how you do it.

“There’s only two ways to do: You either raise taxes and fees or you reallocate the existing capital you have coming in. That’s it.”

Bennett said while the two bridge projects are the state’s top priorities for new infrastructure, his department’s No. 1 priority is to take care of existing infrastructure. Maintaining and renovating roads and bridges is costly and endless. (See Arkansas Bridges Still Need Improvements.)

“That was one of the things I went over with everybody on the Governor’s Working Group on Highway Funding,” Bennett said. “We set some targets for additional funding, and you get up to about $400 million a year. We said $400 million a year buys about 8-10 years from now.

“Probably $150 to $200 million of that, close to half, would be spent on maintaining the system that we have. That means you have roads in bad condition, so you overlay them. You have bridges that are in bad condition, so you replace them.

“Then another $150 million would go to a capital type of program where you’re widening roads and building new interchanges for economic development.

If you’re just throwing out new projects for a wish list, I think our priority has to be taking care of what we have.”

The mean annual wage for architects in Arkansas in 2015 was $68,540 compared with $82,850 nationally, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The bureau’s Occupational Employment Statistics program produces employment and wage estimates annually for more than 800 occupations. The data for 2015 are the most recent available from the BLS.

A new development vision with a Western flair has recast a would-be Little Rock subdivision into a $40 million townhome project.

In recognition of a market shift in millennial housing patterns, Village at the Gateway is courting tenants instead of homebuyers.

“It was kind of like remodeling a house except we are remodeling a subdivision,” said Russ Huckaby, CEO of Big Rock Development LLC.

Huckaby and his business partner, Bob Francis, are overseeing construction of a 145-duplex neighborhood geared toward renters wanting to live on the edge of home ownership.

The townhomes feature a tricked-out amenity package that appeals to a growing market of younger and older residents who aren’t interested in ownership but crave the niceties of an attached garage and more space between neighbors.

“We believe this is the way it’s going between millennials and the baby boomers,” said Francis, CFO of Big Rock.

The early reception to the one-bedroom model townhome at 12506 Vimy Ridge Road has surpassed even their optimistic expectations. Big Rock recorded 42 preleases in the first 35 days of showing the property that began in early January.

“We’re over 50 now,” Huckaby said. “We don’t even have asphalt down at this point.”

The project represents a turnaround in the making for the property as well as Huckaby’s development career.

Ten years ago, the 37-acre Village at the Gateway site was going to be part of The Ridge Estates. But plans for the 204-lot, single-family subdivision fell apart in the face of financial miscalculation.

Unforeseen costs associated with utilities and infrastructure requirements by the city of Little Rock were blamed for the budgeting shortfall.

The timing of that realization heading into the 2008 financial meltdown was made all the more dramatic for the movers behind The Ridge Estates, John S. Williams and Nick McDaniel.

After clearing the site and wading into the early utility and infrastructure work in 2007, the project came to a halt followed by defaults on a loan and special improvement bonds that triggered dual foreclosures in 2009.

The project’s failure contributed to the Chapter 11 bankruptcy of Williams in July 2009 and the Chapter 7 bankruptcy of McDaniel in March 2012.

First Community Bank of Batesville, trustee of the ill-fated $1 million bond issue, was left as the caretaker of the property after recovering it in 2010.

“They didn’t have enough funds to complete it, and with the downturn in economy, they walked away from the project,” said Dale Cole, CEO of the bank.

Huckaby endured his own Chapter 7 bankruptcy in July 2010 after he hit the financial wall with his residential and commercial projects in Pulaski and Saline counties.

“It was nobody’s fault, but at the end of the day, it’s mine,” Huckaby said. “It’s been a humbling experience.”

He worked with his lenders during the bankruptcy and gained a reputation for helping fix things that led to work helping banks with problem properties.

The problem property on Vimy Ridge Road caught the eye of Francis, whose finance background has focused primarily on real estate during the past 30 years. The Little Rock businessman also is known for his restaurant-entertainment dabblings during the 1970s and 1980s that included Cash McCool’s Saloon & Game Parlor, a forerunner of today’s Dave & Buster’s.

Francis teamed up with Huckaby to figure out a development plan to make the numbers work for the 59.6-acre tract once envisioned for The Ridge Estates.

“I’d always thought about doing duplexes, but I could never pull it together,” Huckaby said. “It all came together with the right timing.”

“We spent two years looking at this,” Francis said.

Until late last year, the partially improved property less than a mile from Interstate 30 sat dormant as potential developers looked but passed on restarting the project or bringing a new concept to the table.

More units on less land with an eye toward selling off the balance of the property for

commercial development is the plan Big Rock has in motion.

“What Bob and Russ recognized was density,” Cole said. “Density makes it economically feasible — and the lifestyle of a high-end apartment complex with the privacy of a home, no one living above you or below you.

“They have a unique idea that is really going to be successful. It doesn’t look like a typical duplex. It looks more like a single-family home.”

Huckaby calls the look Colorado Craftsman, an updated take on retro residential with blue spruce plantings for the landscape. The design is the product of working with the Dallas staff of Stantec Inc., the global design and consulting firm based in Edmonton, Canada.

“We probably went through 100 revisions,” Huckaby said.

The “Gateway” name is a nod to the nearby Gateway Town Center, and the Western vibe of the townhomes is inspired by the retail project’s Bass Pro Shop.

The one-, two- and three-bedroom townhomes will be decked out with the amenities of the latest upscale apartments supported by a clubhouse and dog park.

“Will it compare with other projects in the market, or how much better will it be?” Huckaby said. “It’s the test of tests.”

“Based on demand, we’ll have it all built out this year,” Francis said.

The entryway utility-roadwork along Vimy Ridge Road is winding down, and the construction of townhomes is about to begin.

“We will start building Tuesday,” Huckaby said.

The Planet Fitness just off Wedington Drive in Fayetteville was sold for $3.45 million this past week.

BNC Rental LLC, led by Rick Carpenter of Fayetteville, bought the property from Forest Hills Village LLC, led by Charles Palmer of Fort Smith. Palmer and Carpenter have co-owned, through a condominium regime agreement, the 10-acre lot just east of the Walmart Neighborhood Market since 2012.

Jordan Jeter and Philip Schmidt of Flake & Kelley Commercial Northwest represented Palmer in the sale. Carpenter was represented by Matthew Hairston of Flake & Kelley.

The Planet Fitness is one of the main businesses on a lot that also has an eye clinic and a Dickey’s BBQ Pit restaurant. Carpenter acquired the Dickey’s portion of the lot after the condominium regime was created in July 2012.

Palmer and Carpenter ended the condominium regime Feb. 8.

This week’s installment of multimillion dollar real estate transactions features a Conway quartet.

• Adamis Pharmaceuticals Corp. of San Diego bought the 16,452-SF US Compounding facility at 1270 Don’s Lane for $2.4 million.

Seller? 4 Hims LLC, led by Eddie Glover.

• Watson & Watson Construction Inc. of Conway sold a 27-unit piece of Arbor Point Apartments at 1805 Ott Memorial Blvd. for nearly $1.9 million.

Buyer: The Johnson Family Trust of Encinta, California.

• Zips Conway LLC, led by Brett Overman, acquired the former Boomerang Car Wash at 1012 E. Oak St. for $1.4 million.

Seller? Clean Car LLC, led by Paul Stagg.

• FTS International Services LLC of Fort Worth sold its 29.5-acre development at 294 Hwy. 65N for $1.4 million.

Who purchased the 34,055-SF Frac Tech Services complex?

Terraconway LLC, led by Doug Meyer.

Brandon Woodrome, the 29-year-old Fort Smith construction company owner, will be sentenced April 18 for one count each of bank fraud and wire fraud.

In September, Woodrome waived indictment and plead guilty to the crimes in the U.S. District Court in Fort Smith.

He admitted to receiving more than $2.1 million from First Western Bank of Booneville and a finance company in Texas by submitting fraudulent invoices, crimes for which he faces years in federal prison.

“What happened was our growth outpaced our actual sales,” Woodrome, whose company was called Behr LLC, told Arkansas Business in October. “And instead of responding to a decline in sales by controlling overhead expenses, I just tried to push through and underbid projects. It compounded the problems.”

Bank fraud carries a penalty of up to 30 years federal prison, a fine of $1 million or both. Woodrome could be sentenced up to 20 years, a maximum fine of $250,000, or both for the wire fraud count. But his plea agreement suggests a sentence that’s more likely to be two to four years.

Woodrome will be sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge P.K. Holmes III.

Deltic Timber Corp. of El Dorado on Monday named John D. Enlow, formerly of Weyerhaeuser, as its new chief executive and revealed that it had fired its chief financial officer for misappropriating "certain company assets for personal use."

The publicly traded timber and real estate company (NYSE: DEL) also reported fourth-quarter and fiscal year results, which showed profit and revenue gains.

In a news release, the company said Enlow, 49, would take over as president and CEO on March 8. Enlow last worked as vice president of real estate and southern timberlands at Weyerhaeuser from 2014 to 2016. Before that, he worked for Rayonier Inc. of Jacksonville, Florida, for 16 years.

"We are pleased to welcome a proven leader of John's caliber and experience to the Deltic team," said Robert C. Nolan, chairman of Deltic's board. "John's broad industry expertise in forestry, real estate development, finance and operations will be invaluable as the company continues to capitalize on momentum in the housing and wood products markets."

The company said Enlow will receive an annual base salary of $500,000 and a target annual incentive opportunity equal to 85 percent of his base salary. He will receive a sign-on bonus of $75,000 and a sign-on equity award with an aggregate value of $650,000.

Ray Dillon, Deltic's CEO for 13 years, retired from the company in October, and its board of directors had named D. Mark Leland as an interim replacement.

CFO Fired

Separately, the company said it had fired CFO Kenneth D. Mann and appointed Byrom L. Walker as his temporary replacement. Walker, 55, has been controller since May 2007; he's been with Deltic for 11 years.

"The termination of Mr. Mann was completed after the board became aware that he misappropriated certain company assets for personal use," the company said in its earnings release. "This action is not related to the company's operating or financial performance and is not expected to have a material impact on Deltic's previously issued financial statements."

Deltic provided few other details about Mann's dismissal. In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Deltic said Mann told the company's general counsel on Feb. 20 that Mann had "misappropriated certain company assets for personal use." Mann was placed on administrative leave and was fired on Friday, according to the filing.

The board revoked Mann's unvested equity awards, his 2017 cash incentive bonus and equity awards that vested on Feb. 20. The board's audit committee has retained Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP of New York to help review "matters involving Mr. Mann." The company said that, after the review, it "intends to seek full reimbursement from Mr. Mann for all misappropriated amounts."

Last week, shares of Deltic hit a new 52-week high after a filing said the company had been "approached by multiple parties interested in merging with or acquiring" the company.

In a Schedule 13D filing with the SEC, Southeastern Asset Management Inc. of Memphis, which owns a 15 percent stake in Deltic, said potential suitors had approached it and Deltic about a deal, and that it believes Deltic has hired a financial adviser.

In the filing, Southeastern listed the benefits it thinks a combination of Deltic and the publicly traded timber real estate investment trust (REIT) would yield for shareholders. Among them: opportunities for "superior, experienced corporate leadership that would obviate the need to hire a new" chief executive officer.

4Q, Full-Year Results

Also on Monday, Deltic released fourth-quarter and full-year results.

For the quarter, the company reported net income of $3.1 million or 26 cents per share, up from a loss of $128,000 or 1 cent per share in the same quarter last year. Revenue was $58.5 million, up 18 percent from $49.6 million in the same quarter last year.

The company attributed the improved quarterly results to increased operating income in its manufacturing and real estate segments. Those improvements included higher average sales prices for both lumber and medium density fiberboard; increased sales volume of MDF; improved operating performance at its MDF plant; the sale of two commercial real estate sites; and the sale of 77 residential lots.

"With Deltic's well positioned asset base and exceptional team, we achieved another quarter of solid operating and financial performance," Leland said in a news release.

For the year, Deltic reported net income of $9.2 million or 76 cents per share, up from $2.6 million or 21 cents per share in the previous year. Revenue was $219.4 million, up 13 percent from $193.8 million in the previous year.

WASHINGTON — U.S. services companies expanded in February at the fastest pace since October 2015.

(Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen signaled Friday that the Fed will likely resume raising interest rates later this month to reflect a strengthening job market and inflation edging toward the central bank's 2 percent target rate.

(Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

The legacy of American musician Johnny Cash attracts history buffs and music fans from dozens of countries and every state to his boyhood home in the Historic Dyess Colony, the largest agricultural resettlement of the Depression-era New Deal.

MidSouth Bank of Lafayette, Louisiana, has asked a bankruptcy court judge not to allow Dr. Hiren D. Patel, who owns the Arkansas Convention Center & Holiday Inn in Texarkana, to be allowed to walk away from a $13.3 million debt he owes the bank.

The bank said Patel “did knowingly and fraudulently … make a false oath or account” when he obtained the loans, the bank said in an August filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Texas. It asked the bankruptcy court judge to deny a discharge of the debt.

Patel, and his wife, Nila, along with two of Patel’s companies, are in Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Texas.

Between May 2010 and September 2013, the bank made a series of loans to Patel’s companies to build and furnish the Country Inn & Suites in Texarkana, Texas, and the convention center and hotel project on the Arkansas side of the city. At the end of March 2016, $13.3 million was still owed on the loans, according to the bank’s filing.

The bank said that instead of using the money for the properties as required, Patel transferred at least $1.3 million to his other companies or to his father, Dineshchandra Patel, sometimes called Dinesh, who has an ownership interest in his son’s companies.

The bank said that Hiren Patel was the one who contributed all the money to the companies. His father, “on the other hand, contributed virtually nothing,” MidSouth Bank said. “He guaranteed no debt. He carried none of the risk.”

MidSouth charged that Patel and his father “conspired to make substantial transfers of assets to Dinesh, or to third parties for Dinesh’s benefit.”

In addition, the bank said that in September 2015, just before Patel and his companies filed for bankruptcy reorganization in late 2015 and 2016, he transferred money from his companies so he could buy a house with his wife in Southlake, Texas. The house, with a value of $450,000, has been claimed as exempt in Patel’s bankruptcy, the filing said.

Hiren Patel also misrepresented his financial condition, according to the pleading. The financial statements he submitted to the bank showed that the convention center and Holiday Inn had a value of $16 million and the Country Inn & Suites was valued at $6.5 million, MidSouth said. The Country Inn recently sold for $2.9 million and the winning bid for the convention center and Holiday Inn was $6.6 million.

Hiren and Nila Patel’s attorney, Bill Payne of Dallas, denied the allegations of wrongdoing in his filing but didn’t return calls for comment. No court date has been set.

(Related: Podiatrist's Purchase of Convention Center Gives Texarkana Officials Cold Feet)

A Texas podiatrist with a past that includes a federal conviction wants to buy the troubled Arkansas Convention Center & Holiday Inn out of bankruptcy — and that has some Texarkana officials on the Arkansas side concerned.

City officials say they haven’t heard from Dr. James J. Naples about his plans for the convention center. In December, Naples entered into a $6.6 million purchase agreement with Dr. Hiren Patel, who owns the property through his Texarkana Hotels LLC. The sale ultimately would have to be approved by the bankruptcy court.

“We are as much in the dark as you are,” Ruth Penney-Bell, mayor of Texarkana, Arkansas, told Arkansas Business. “I have never heard of his having any experience in this sort of thing, not even being a hotel or motel” operator.

She said the city has invested more than $9 million in the convention center project, which opened in 2013, about a year after a convention center opened on the Texas side of the city. Penney-Bell said the city has no voice in the convention center’s operation.

Several messages left at Naples’ medical office in Texarkana, Texas, drew no response. Messages and emails to the attorney representing Naples in the purchase, Kyle B. Davis of New Boston, Texas, also brought no response.

Naples, who has practiced podiatry for more than four decades on the Texas side of Texarkana, also is known for buying properties in financial distress, according to an Arkansan who was in business relationships with Naples. The Arkansan asked that his name not be used because he had been involved in a lawsuit with Naples.

The 27,000-SF, $15 million convention center and 127-room Holiday Inn would seem to be the kind of property Naples finds attractive. It lost $381,000 on revenue of $2 million between April and January, according to financial reports in its bankruptcy. And Naples is familiar with Patel. In January, Naples bought the 81-room Country Inn & Suites in Texarkana, Texas, out of bankruptcy, paying $2.9 million to Patel’s Krishna Associates LLC.

Naples’ biggest deal, though, appears to be selling his AmiCare Behavioral Centers LLC of Fayetteville to publicly traded Acadia Healthcare Co. of Franklin, Tennessee, for $113 million in late 2012. AmiCare was the largest provider of behavioral health services in western Arkansas and did business as Vista Health, operating three inpatient psychiatric treatment facilities in Fayetteville, Fort Smith and Texarkana. It also operated the Piney Ridge Center, a residential treatment facility in Fayetteville, and eight outpatient treatment centers throughout western Arkansas.

More than a decade ago, Naples made headlines for legal troubles. In 2005, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice and was ordered to pay $2 million in restitution and sentenced to probation for two years. As a result of that conviction, the Texas State Board of Podiatric Medical Examiners suspended Naples’ medical license for three months in 2006 and fined him $75,000.

Hell’s Kitchen
Naples grew up in a part of New York known as Hell’s Kitchen. “This man was not born with a silver spoon,” his attorney, David Botsford of Austin, Texas, said at Naples’ April 2005 sentencing hearing. Naples “brought himself up by his own bootstraps from a tiny hovel of a family home in New York City.”

Naples received his podiatric medicine degree in 1974 from the Dr. William M. Scholl College of Podiatric Medicine at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine & Science in North Chicago, Illinois, which has produced approximately a third of all practicing podiatric physicians in the United States. He moved to the Texas side of Texarkana in the early 1970s.

Botsford told the judge during the 2005 sentencing that Naples is “a man of his word, a man of integrity, a man that is devoted to his family.”

Naples owned and operated the 63-bed New Boston General Hospital in Texas.

“He made his first million at New Boston hospital. That’s where he got his start,” said the business associate. “He did a huge amount of surgeries there.”

The hospital activity caught the eye of state and federal investigators.

Fraud Allegations
In February 2004, Naples and eight others who worked at the hospital were indicted in U.S. District Court in Texas on charges that included racketeering and Medicare fraud. The 134-count indictment accused Naples of leading the “other doctors to overbill Medicare and persuaded an assistant to help him perform unauthorized cancer research,” according to an April 2004 article in the Houston Chronicle.

“We vehemently deny all the accusations and look forward to proving our innocence in court,” Keith Naples, son of Dr. Naples and the administrator of the hospital, told the newspaper.

Naples wasn’t under indictment for long. About three months later, in May 2004, a federal judge dropped the charges against Naples and his co-defendants. At the request of the defendants, the documents in that case were sealed, which is an unusual move.

But the dismissal of the charges against Naples didn’t end his dealings with the federal government.

In September 2004, Naples was charged with one count of obstruction of justice for causing “an employee to fail to produce airplane trip logs, … which were required to be produced” by a grand jury subpoena dated in August 2003, according to the information sheet filed in U.S. District Court in the Texarkana, Texas, Division.

Federal prosecutors considered Naples a flight risk and prevented him from using his Beechcraft King Air B100 Turboprop plane, according to the April 2004 Houston Chronicle article. Naples, however, did receive permission to use the plane to fly from Texarkana to Fayetteville and back to watch his son graduate from business school in December 2004.

Not long afterward, Naples pleaded guilty to the obstruction charge.

At his sentencing hearing in April 2005, Naples was given two years of probation and ordered to pay $2 million in restitution to the Department of Health & Human Services, the federal agency that oversees the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Naples also was sentenced to 250 hours of community service.

Naples apologized and told the judge, “I assure you I won’t be back.”

After being on probation for about 14 months, Naples asked U.S. District Judge David Folsom to end his probation early. The $2 million restitution had been paid, and “he has far exceeded his 250 hours of community service,” Botsford said in a pleading. “His attitude has been exceptional and he has done everything the Court required of him.”

Folsom granted the early termination of Naples’ probation on Nov. 3, 2006.

More Deals
Released from probation, Naples continued buying property.

Through an entity called Pinewood Healthcare Realty LP, Naples bought an On Deck batting cage in Fayetteville in September 2007 for $375,000 after it had been an asset in a bankruptcy. The 18,300-SF building on 1.4 acres now has an estimated market value of $2.2 million, according to the Washington County assessor’s record.

Other properties in bankruptcy also caught Naples’ attention.

Naples was one of six parties who submitted bids in November to buy the Country Inn & Suites on the Texas side of Texarkana out of bankruptcy from Hiren Patel and his father, Dineshchandra Patel, through their company, Krishna Associates LLC.

Krishna Associates had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in November 2015 and listed $5.3 million in debts and $3.2 million in assets. The company’s bankruptcy attorney, Bill F. Payne of Paris, Texas, didn’t respond to calls or an email.

Naples was the winning bidder, and the $2.9 million in proceeds from the sale went to MidSouth Bank of Lafayette, Louisiana, which was the leading creditor.

Hiren Patel and his father also own the Arkansas Convention Center & Holiday Inn, through their company Texarkana Hotels, which filed for Chapter 11 reorganization last March. It listed $10.6 million in debts and $5.2 million in assets.

The convention center project has previously been a source of controversy.

Between 2009 and 2012, Harold Boldt, then city manager of Texarkana, Arkansas, persuaded city directors to approve several deals and incentives so Patel would develop the convention center project and a water park, which he operates under Holiday Springs Water Park LLC. That company is not in bankruptcy.

In 2014, a legislative audit found several violations of state law in the city’s handling of the development, but no criminal charges were brought.

Meanwhile, revenue was increasing at the convention center and hotel, growing from $1.85 million in 2014, its first full year of operation, to $2.46 million in 2015.

MidSouth Bank, though, said Patel’s company defaulted on $10 million worth of loans and wanted to foreclose. That triggered the trip to bankruptcy court to stop the foreclosure action.

(See: Midsouth Bank Accuses Arkansas Convention Center Owner of Fraud.)

The property went up for bid in January, with Naples winning the bid. But objections to the sale were filed, including one by the Advertising & Promotion Commission in Texarkana, Arkansas, which pays the company almost $235,000 annually as incentive for operating the property. The A&P Commision said it shouldn’t have to continue to make those payments to a new owner.

A&P Commission Chairman Buddy Allen said he hasn’t talked to Naples about the purchase of the property. Naples hasn’t requested that the A&P tax incentives continue under his ownership, Allen said.

“I do not know what his plans are if he is the successful bidder,” Allen told Arkansas Business.

A hearing on the sale is scheduled for March 17 in front of Bankruptcy Judge Brenda T. Rhoades in Plano, Texas.

Arkansas Convention Center & Holiday Inn
Texarkana, Arkansas

Source: Monthly Operating Reports filed in Texarkana Hotels LLC’s Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Texas. The reports started being filed in April 2016.

A series of auto transactions in Pulaski County added up to $41.5 million.

Affiliates of Little Rock’s McLarty Auto Group bought four auto properties from affiliates of Asbury Automotive Group of Duluth, Georgia.

The deals are funded with a $35.2 million loan from SunTrust Bank of Atlanta.

MAG-AR 4400 Landers Road LLC purchased North Point Ford at 4400 Landers Road and North Point Lincoln at 4336 Landers Road in North Little Rock from Asbury Automotive Arkansas Dealership Holdings LLC for $14.4 million.

The property was assembled in three deals:

• $11.5 million for the 14.39-acre dealership in May 2011.

Seller: NPF Holdings LLC, a McLarty family entity.

• $275,000 for a 0.28-acre parcel on Smokey Lane in November 2006.

Sellers: Adams Trust and the Credit Shelter Trust, both led by Alice Faye Adams.

• $141,000 for 1.62 acres on Newman Drive in July 2000.

Seller: An investment group composed of James Dietz, Hershel Bowman, Douglas W. Ashcraft; CBM Construction Co., led by Clark McGlothin; Dennis Jungmeyer; Hal Matthews; Rablaco LLC, led by Tom Cory; R-4 Enterprises Inc., led by Raymond Roberts; Seymour Real Estate LLC, led by Mike Seymour; Dow Worsham II; and Arkansas Precast Corp. of Jacksonville.

MAG-AR 4313 Landers Road LLC acquired North Point Toyota at 4313 Landers Road in North Little Rock from Asbury Automotive Arkansas Dealership Holdings for $12.1 million.

The 12.11-acre development previously was tied to an October 2013 mortgage of $5.5 million held by Toyota Motor Credit Corp. of Torrance, California.

Asbury assembled half of the property in deals totaling $2.3 million. The sellers were Fletcher Realty LLC, led by Frank Fletcher, $1.5 million for the 2.4-acre Frank Fletcher Chrysler Jeep location at 4313 Landers Road in January 2006; Davidson Holding Co., led by Skip Davidson, $1.38 million for 2.54 acres on Smokey Lane in March 2007; L&S Concrete Co., led by Charles Weaver, $772,000 for two acres on Smokey Lane in January 2006; and Joe Edd Hawkins, $75,000 for a 0.15-acre parcel on Smokey Lane in January 2006.

The remaining 4.97 acres are leased from MJG Family Ltd., led by Michael Goshen.

MAG-AR 4621 Colonel Glenn LLC bought BMW of Little Rock at 4621 Col. Glenn Plaza Road in west Little Rock from Asbury Automotive Arkansas for $12 million.

The 5.38-acre site was purchased for $4.2 million in July 2013 from LLEJ I, led by Leonard Boen.

MAG-AR 5500 Starita Drive LLC acquired North Point Collision Center North at 5500 Starita Drive in Sherwood from NP FLM LLC for $3 million.

The 4-acre development helped secure an October 2013 funding agreement of $75 million with Bank of America in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The project was bought for $2.5 million in June 2008 from Astar Asb Ar1 LLC of Dallas.

Quail Valley Sale
A 240-unit apartment project in southwest Little Rock weighed in at $3.7 million.

Quail Redevelopment LLC, an affiliate of Cross Equities LLC of Addison, Texas, acquired Quail Valley Apartments at 5300 Baseline Road.

The seller is Quail Valley Apartments LLC, led by Donald Marshall Jr.

The deal is financed with a three-year loan of $5.3 million from American Bank of Commerce in Wolfforth, Texas.

The 12.59-acre development previously was linked with an October 2014 mortgage of $2.8 million held by Southern Bancorp Bank of Arkadelphia.

The property was bought for $2.8 million in October 2014 from Quail Valley Ltd. of Clayton, Missouri.

Dollar Transaction
A Family Dollar Store in southwest Little Rock tipped the scales at nearly $1.37 million.

The Thomas E. Keyser & Gwendolyn Keyser Revocable Trust of Los Angeles purchased the 8,320-SF store at 3500 Baseline Road from FD Little Rock Arkansas Baseline Road LLC, an affiliate of the Atwater Group of Chicago.

The 1.96-acre development previously was tied to a February 2016 mortgage of $1 million held by One Bank & Trust of Little Rock.

The location was acquired 13 months ago for $149,000 from Robert Brook Properties LLC, led by Jon Luer.

Pinnacle Purchase
A 6,120-SF office building in downtown Little Rock changed hands in an $800,000 transaction.

Pinnacle Hotel Group Inc., led by Chetan Patel, bought the 119 Izard St. project from Nussbaum-Cockrill LLC, led by Alan Nussbaum.

The deal is backed with a five-year loan of $680,000 from Little Rock’s Bank of the Ozarks.

The 0.52-acre development previously was linked with an August 2002 mortgage of $680,000 held by Bank of America.

The location was purchased for $144,000 in 2002 from the namesake trusts of Dickson, Gordon and John Flake.

Hotel Land
A hotel project is in motion after a 1.78-acre site on the north side of Little Rock’s Gateway Town Center sold for $755,983.

Gateway Lodging LLC, led by Chetan Patel, acquired the land north of Bass Pro Parkway. The seller is Gateway Creek LLC, led by Isaac Smith.

The property previously was tied to a January 2016 mortgage of $6 million held by First Security Bank of Searcy.

Gateway Creek bought an 89.3 percent stake in the property 13 months ago as part of a $4.97 million deal with Town Center LLC, led by Tommy Hodges.

Jacksonville Acreage
A 75.5-acre tract in Jacksonville drew a $275,000 transaction.

Jack and Michelle Anderson purchased the land near the southeast corner of Military Road and Southeastern Avenue from Lone’s Jacksonville Inc., led by Shahlia Lone.

The deal is funded with a 20-year loan of $365,000 from AgHeritage Farm Credit Services of Little Rock.

The property previously helped secure a September 2012 mortgage of $224,000 held by Centennial Bank of Conway.

The land was acquired more than four years ago as part of a $281,000 deal with Arkansas Emergency Transport LLC, led by Roger Hosman.

Fourche Rock
A 16-unit apartment project in south Little Rock rang up a $150,000 sale.

Colonial Park RBG LLC of West Plains, Missouri, bought Fourche Rock Apartments at 4815 Mabelvale Pike from City National Bank of Los Angeles.

The bank recovered the 0.6-acre development from Little Rock Group LLC, led by Steven St. Clair, in April 2015 at a $150,000 foreclosure sale.

The property was purchased for $460,000 in December 2006 from NCK LLC, led by Linda Koubek.

Heights Home
A 3,992-SF home in the Country Club Heights neighborhood is under new ownership after an $840,000 transaction.

John and Betsy Walker acquired the house from the Roescheise Family Revocable Living Trust, led by Donald and Ethel Roescheise.

The deal is financed with a one-year loan of $672,000 from Bank of England.

The residence previously was linked with a December 2008 mortgage of $620,000 held by Regions Bank of Birmingham, Alabama.

The property was bought for $60,000 in May 1965 from Emma Rogers.

Riverbend Residence
A 3,180-SF home in Little Rock’s Riverbend neighborhood changed hands in a $710,000 sale.

Clifford Woods LLC, led by Mack and Donna McLarty, purchased the house from the Marjorie O. McLean Revocable Trust.

The property was acquired for $194,000 in 1991 from Virginia Bailey.

Seven-Digit Construction

Renovation    $1,809,476
H&E Equipment
2801 W. 65th St., Little Rock
Buquet-Leblanc Inc., Baton Rouge

A multifamily project in North Little Rock, apartment land, a restaurant and hotel land in west Little Rock and a Heights home in Little Rock form a five-piece of multimillion-dollar transactions in Pulaski County.

• Ridge Road Village Ltd. of Frisco, Texas, sold its namesake 80-unit apartment project at 4748 Ridge Road in North Little Rock for $7 million to an affiliate of New York’s Dwight Capital.

• An affiliate of Heritage Properties Inc. of Madison, Mississippi, bought a 20.1-acre apartment site near the southeast corner of Rahling and Kirk roads for $3.1 million from Deltic Timber Corp. of El Dorado.

• Centre Structured Trust 2 investors sold the 7,090-SF Romano’s Macaroni Grill at 11100 W. Markham St. for $2.5 million to an affiliate of Fortress Investment Group of New York.

• James and Terry Barnes and their Promenade Hospitality LLC purchased a 2.91-acre hotel site near the southeast corner of La Grande Drive and St. Vincent Way for nearly $2.3 million from Deltic Timber.

• Robert and Eliza Gaines acquired a 5,000-SF house near the Country Club of Little Rock from Clark and Katherine Raborn for $1.3 million.

Two Fayetteville apartment complexes were sold in separate, multi-million dollar deals.

BSR Trust of Little Rock paid slightly more than $32.68 million for the Mountain Ranch Apartments on Coral Canyon Loop, just west of Interstate 49. BSR bought the 360-unit complex through its Mountain Ranch Partners LLC.

BSR owns or manages 46 properties totaling 9,200 units in five states. The company said in a news release that it had focused on investments in other states recently before deciding the time was right to invest in northwest Arkansas.

"Mountain Ranch is an outstanding community that we are thrilled to add to the BSR portfolio," said Daniel Oberste, BSR's chief investment officer. "(T)he economic growth story in northwest Arkansas is impossible to ignore. Further, BSR's corporate offices along with a large chunk of our operating personnel are based in Arkansas. As a result, it makes good business sense for BSR to expand our Arkansas presence at this time.

"This transaction, together with the other acquisitions and investments made in the past year, are indicators of the growth our company is experiencing and our strategy moving forward."

The Hill Place Apartments on South Royal Oaks Parkway sold for $53.33 million to Cardinal Group Cos. of Denver. Its Cardinal Group Management bought the 268-unit complex through the subsidiary Cardinal Group Fayetteville I LLC. 

The seller was Blue Vista Capital Management of Chicago through its BVP Hill Place LLC. 

Opponents and supporters of the Plains & Eastern Clean Line, a $2 billion power line project that would transmit wind-generated electricity across the width of Arkansas, have opened an ideological battle that puts the all-Republican Arkansas congressional delegation in Washington at odds with the new infrastructure-friendly mindset of President Donald J. Trump.

Citing the need for local control and landowner rights, Arkansas' national lawmakers specifically targeted the Clean Line in reintroducing legislation Monday that would require permission from state officials before federal power line projects proceed.

The Clean Line project, planned by Clean Line energy Partners of Houston, Texas, was rejected by the Arkansas Public Service Commission before being revived with support from the Department of Energy in the Obama administration. The Energy Department authorized the use of eminent domain powers for the project to procure rights of way from landowners.

The bill introduced Monday, named to spell the acronym APPROVAL, is the Assuring Private Property Rights Over Vast Access to Land Act. If enacted, it would halt the Clean Line endeavor, which University of Arkansas economists have said will provide hundreds of jobs in Arkansas and $660 million in economic impact over 30 months of construction.

The bill was sponsored by Sen. John Boozman and Rep. Steve Womack, as well as Sen. Tom Cotton and Reps. Rick Crawford, French Hill and Bruce Westerman. 

"If a project is not good for Arkansas, our governor or Public Service Commission should have the power to say no instead of being cut out of the process and dictated to by Washington bureaucrats," Boozman said in a statement.

While Arkansas' lawmakers were making a case for local control and landowner rights, they found themselves in an odd position as Republicans being accused of promoting "job killing" legislation. Clean Line Partners suggested that they are standing against President Trump's championing of privately financed infrastructure projects.

Trump also voiced strong support of eminent domain procedures during the presidential campaign, and has turned to them in his own career as a real estate developer.

"At the same time our country is focused on creating opportunities for American workers, Arkansas congressmen have introduced a bill that will kill thousands of American jobs and, specifically, hundreds of Arkansas jobs," said Lonnie Stephenson, international president of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, who whose position was cited in a media statement from Clean Line Partners. "The IBEW strongly disapproves of politics getting in the way of American job creation."

The Clean Line Project has been fought by landowner groups and some environmentalists, while being hailed by other environmentalists in favor of wind energy proliferation. The project, which would carry 4,000 watts, enough to power a million homes, would cross 12 Arkansas counties, entering the state near Van Buren and exiting near Wilson in Mississippi County, north of Memphis. 

The construction effort, scheduled to begin in the second half of this year, is being challenged by two landowner groups in a federal lawsuit due to begin soon in Jonesboro.

The Clean Line, which would transmit wind energy generated in Oklahoma, has been endorsed by seven major companies doing business in Arkansas, including AFCO Steel, Ingersoll Rand and Unilever. It was approved for federal support under provisions of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and championed last year by Ernest Moniz, then the secretary of energy, who cited the project's renewable energy goals, job creation prospects and contribution to "the reliability of our grid."

Arkansas' delegation objected to the federal intrusion at the time, and Boozman offered similar local-control legislation last year, but it failed to win approval. The lawmakers felt the issue was important enough to bring up again, and in statements Monday they focused on what they called constituents' concerns about property rights and having a voice.

"Arkansans have been taking care of their land for generations," Cotton said in a news release. "They should have a say in any decision that affects that land."

Hill said he commonly hears concerns from state and local officials "about the impact of the Clean Line Project," and its impact on landowners. Westerman praised the legislation's protections for landowners "from the threat of having their property taken through eminent domain."

Those concerns, however, stand in contrast to statements Trump made as a candidate. 

"Eminent domain is an absolute necessity," Trump said in one of the Republican debates. "Without it, you wouldn't have roads, you wouldn't have hospitals, you wouldn't have anything. You wouldn't have schools, you wouldn't have bridges. You need eminent domain."

Clean Line Partners noted that a $15 million factory set to open next month in West Memphis was sited there specifically by glass insulation maker Sediver because the company has a deal to supply insulation for the transmission line project. 

"Sediver decided to return operations to the United States to serve customers across North America last year; Clean Line Energy was absolutely essential in our decision to locate in West Memphis," Sediver CEO Rene Tabouret said.

Clean Line Partners' media statement also said that the project will require nearly 70,000 tons of steel. Promoting American-made steel is another priority of the Trump administration.

While lawmakers cited support for the legislation from groups like the Arkansas Rice Federation, Arkansas Soybean Association, the Agriculture Council of Arkansas and the Arkansas Association of Conservation Districts, Clean Line countered with statements of support from businesses, labor unions and clean power proponents like the Sierra Club.

"The Plains & Eastern Clean Line is a pro-jobs, pro-consumer, pro-environment public energy infrastructure project that will help create a secure energy future for the country, and we are ready to get to work," said Michael Skelly, president of Clean Line Partners.

The company noted that more than $100 million of private capital has been devoted to developing the project, and it pointed to the $30 million in payments it expects to make to Arkansas landowners for easements and transmission line structure payments. The company has also committed to paying counties crossed by the transmission line about $140 million over 40 years to support schools and community services.

But opponents doubt Clean Line's numbers and motives and insist that Arkansans should have a voice through their elected representatives. 

"The delegation is doing exactly what they should be doing, listening to the views of their constituents in Arkansas," said Julie Morton of Van Buren, a vocal Clean Line opponent who has been protesting the project for more than four years. "A great number of landowners and others in the state are against this, and they deserve to be listened to."

In northwest Arkansas, supply kept pace with demand as residential building permits and new homes being occupied increased almost equally, according to Arvest Bank's Skyline Report for the second half of 2016.

The supply of remaining lots and the number of complete but unoccupied houses also continued to fall, the report said.

Kathy Deck of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas, is the lead researcher of the report, which is sponsored by Arvest. She called the residential real estate market "as hot as we've seen it since the recession."

"Given the increase in building permits we've seen during the past 12 months, it is quite impressive that the absorption of newly constructed homes has kept pace," she said in a news release. "The market was equally hot prior to the recession, but at the end of 2006 there were more than 2,500 complete but unoccupied houses on the market and now there are fewer than 300. We hope that this balance is sustainable moving forward."

But Deck warned that two factors could slow the pace of absorption: forecasts for slower job growth in the area and the price of remaining lots.

More: Click here to see the complete report.

There were 1,638 building permits issued in Benton and Washington counties from July 1 through Dec. 31, a 37 percent increase from the same period of 2015 and a 4.9 percent increase from January to June 2016.  

There were also 1,574 new homes sold in the last six months of 2016, indicating a good balance of new homes being built and new homes being purchased, the report said.

The average value of building permits in northwest Arkansas was $221,867, down 7.1 percent from the average value reported in the second half of 2015 and down 2 percent from the average value reported from January to June 2016.

In total, 4,772 homes were sold in Benton and Washington counties during the last six months of 2016, an increase of 12.1 percent from the same time period of 2015.

But the number of new homes being occupied increased 37.6 percent, according to the report. 

The average sales price of Benton County homes during the second half of 2016 was $221,944, up 7.4 percent from the second half of 2015. 

In Washington County, the average price of existing homes was $201,804, up 6.7 percent from the same time period of 2015.

Centerton, in Benton County, was a "hotbed" of building activity, according to the report. The city experienced a nearly 50 percent year-over-year increase in permits and had the third-highest figure of all cities in the region. The report said 288 houses were sold there — up 46.9 percent from the second half of 2015.

The report indicates there is a 35-month supply of remaining lots in active subdivisions in the region, the lowest level since the Skyline Report was first produced in 2004. But an additional 6,666 residential lots have received either preliminary or final approval in the two counties. Adding those proposed lots extends the supply to 64-and-a-half months, the report said.

"During the next several years, expectations are that interest rates will rise slightly, but we keep reminding customers that even if rates increase slightly, they will still be very, very low from a historical perspective," said Craig Shy, executive vice president and loan manager for Arvest Bank in Fayetteville. "The best news is that, in a balanced market like this, it is generally good for both buyers and sellers, as is evidenced by the large number of both new and existing homes that sold during the last half of 2016."

The Arkansas Realtors Association said Wednesday that both home sales and the average price of homes sold increased in January.

The report, which surveys home sales in 43 counties, showed 1,943 homes sold in January, up nearly 8 percent from the 1,803 reported for January 2016.

The average price of the homes sold rose by 7.59 percent to $167,730 from $155,901 in same month last year.

Statewide valuations in January also increased by nearly 16 percent year-over-year to $325.9 million.

More: See the complete ARA report here.

Home sales in Arkansas' top five most active markets totaled 1,026, up nearly 2 percent from the same month in 2016.

Sales in two of the counties, Pulaski and Saline, dropped by more than 10 percent. But Sebastian County saw nearly double the sales recorded in January 2016.

Here's unit sales for Arkansas' five busiest counties:

• Sebastian: 115, up 47 percent from 78 in the same month of last year.
• Pulaski: 276, down 14 percent from 321.
• Washington: 205, up 15 percent from 178.
• Saline: 94, down 10 percent from 105.
• Benton: 336, up 2 percent from 328

Benton County led the state for highest average price in January, at $219,492, up nearly 16 percent from January 2016.

The other highest average prices were:

• $214,072, up 16 percent, in Washington County;
• $188,656, up nearly 9 percent, in Pulaski County;
• $187,952, up 23 percent, in Saline County;
• and $186,486, up nearly 20 percent, in Garland County.

Simmons Bank of Pine Bluff has purchased the 12-story Acxiom Building in downtown Little Rock, and Acxiom Corp. will move its headquarters back to Conway, where it was founded, the two companies announced Friday.

The purchase price initially wasn't disclosed.

The acquisition of the 188,460-SF office building at 601 E. Third St. with its supporting five-story parking deck will allow Simmons to consolidate staffers and provide additional space for future growth.

"We have people all over Little Rock that we inherited when we bought Metropolitan National Bank and Delta Trust & Bank," George Makris Jr., Simmons CEO, told Arkansas Business on Friday. "It has become a logistical nightmare from a corporate communications standpoint."

Arkansas Business reported Simmons' interest in the property in a "Whispers" item in January.

The purchase will facilitate the consolidation of about 200 staffers scattered around town.

Most of those are on floors 11-14 at the Simmons Tower at 425 W. Capitol Ave. Three of those floors were occupied by Metropolitan National Bank, which Simmons bought in 2013.

The consolidation of offices is expected to take place over the course of the next year. Simmons will remodel and refit the building and begin moving associates from various central Arkansas offices to the new location.

The transaction involves the city transferring ownership of the 2.13-acre development to Acxiom, which will sell the land and building to Simmons. The property was held nominally by the city to facilitate a $17 million bond issue to finance construction of the project 15 years ago.

In a news release, Acxiom said all employees working at the building "will remain with the company, with a few transitioning to home-based work and a small number remaining in Little Rock." It said the majority of employees "will work from Acxiom's original Conway campus, which was built in 1969, the year the company was founded."

Moving workers from Little Rock will bring the number of employees at the Conway campus to about 1,500, the publicly traded data services firm said.