A flurry of behind-the-scenes activity indicates a restart is in the works for a key part of the Creative Corridor in downtown Little Rock.

Lawsuits and countersuits surrounding unpaid work on the dormant 125,000-SF Main Street Lofts redevelopment recently were dismissed.

The order in Pulaski County Circuit Court alludes to a financial settlement that squared away more than $1.3 million in claims on the three-building project at 510-524 Main St. by Little Rock’s AMR Construction and its subcontractors.

A new entity, Deep Creek LR LLC, also became the owner of the former M.M. Cohn Building at 510 Main St. Real estate documents portray the change as a reorganization and an internal shift in ownership, a transaction valued at $2.1 million.

Trailing behind this, the lead construction lender, Riverside Bank of Sparkman, released its security interest in the 62,688-SF building. The property secured a 2015 mortgage of $2 million held by the bank.

Delinquent property taxes totaling $30,542 for 2012-15 also were paid, tying up another loose end in advance of renewed work on the building or a possible sale.

All these developments come two years after activity moved from the construction site to the courthouse when AMR Construction walked off the job in April 2015. AMR received an $896,756 arbitration award that was converted to a judgment last year against the Main Street Lofts ownership group, then led by Scott Reed of Portland, Oregon. According to sources, his role with the project has changed.

“I believe that Scott Reed is out of the picture, except he may be consulting with the new group because of his knowledge about the entire project,” said Phil Kaplan, a member of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra’s board of directors. “We made it clear we didn’t want to deal with him.”

Will the symphony set up shop in part of the M.M. Cohn Building as originally planned?

“The ASO is still very interested in the possibility of becoming a tenant in the building if the terms can be worked out,” Kaplan said.

Various parties involved with past workout attempts for Main Street Lofts considered Reed to be the biggest obstacle to getting the project back on track. His removal from the forefront is touted as a leading cause that momentum is restored.

“Scott’s got a lot of pride,” said one Little Rock businessman who’s spent more frustrating time with Reed than he cares to count. “He’s never wrong. He may be a super salesman, but he just can’t take it to the finish line.”

Two blocks to the north, the 32-unit K Lofts apartment project that Reed started but couldn’t finish was brought back to life earlier this year. As with Main Street Lofts, internal pressure from investors is credited with restoring order.

Elevator inspection and installation of the remaining appliances are two of the last big checklist items remaining before the apartments at 315 Main St. are ready for showing to prospective tenants.

“We’re getting very close,” said Matt Foster, owner of Little Rock’s MWF Construction LLC. “We hope to be finished up during the next three weeks.”

MWF’s $375,000 contract to finish K Lofts is among a string of construction jobs in downtown Little Rock expected to be completed before year’s end.

The biggest of the bunch is the seven-story, $12.5 million Hilton Garden Inn at 322 Rock St. Progress on the 140-room hotel is on pace for a fall opening.

“For working in a dense urban environment, it’s been pretty smooth,” said William Clark, CEO of Little Rock’s Clark Contractors LLC. “We’ll be finished with our part in August.

“A couple months after that, it should open.”

The project will house nearly 4,000 SF of meeting space and a full-service restaurant and bar on the ground floor named The Garden and a top-floor venue called Posh.

Seven blocks to the south, the three-story, 48-unit Clayton on Scott apartment project is moving toward completion in August.

“We’re in the finish-out phase,” said Jonathan Shively, president of Little Rock’s Central Construction Group. “We’re in the process of about to start painting.”

The $4 million construction project at 915 Scott St. is among four sizable jobs the company has going in downtown Little Rock.

Construction of 16 apartments at 1300 E. Sixth St., part of the $7 million Sterling Paint redevelopment, should be completed by early fall.

“We’re doing site work and framing out the second-floor apartments,” Shively said.

Workers also are preparing space on the ground floor for new offices of Cromwell Architects Engineers and a 4,000-SF restaurant, whose identity remains under wraps.

“We’re hoping that all comes together by the end of the year,” Shively said.

Central Construction recently began work to redevelop the former M.M. Eberts American Legion Post at 315 E. Capitol Ave. into the Dust Bowl Lanes & Lounge.

The $913,000 project should be complete in about six months, along with a neighboring redevelopment.

Next door, the former Paragon Printing Building at 307 E. Capitol Ave. is marked for a $1.2 million transformation into Fassler Hall, a German-style beer hall and restaurant, The two projects will be the first Arkansas endeavors for The McNellie’s Group of Tulsa, the hospitality enterprise behind both concepts.

Ground-floor space is taking shape in the former Fulk-Arkansas Democrat Building.

The new home of Three Fold Noodles & Dumpling Co. will round out the redevelopment, which includes eight completed apartments on the second floor.

The finish-out work by Little Rock’s Tycor Construction should be completed by mid-September. The $450,000 project at 611 Main St. will provide seating for 120.

EL DORADO — Austin Barrow escaped from El Dorado just after high school, pledging never to return. “I didn’t even wait the summer; I was gone,” he says, but he was just taunting fate.

“I made the mistake of saying it out loud too many times; that guaranteed I’d be back.”

Now president and COO of nonprofit El Dorado Festivals & Events Inc., Barrow’s job is attracting people to his hometown and keeping residents here. And in a town where an oil gusher a century ago set off one of the wildest booms in American history, transforming El Dorado into south Arkansas’ richest town, Barrow presides over a boom in downtown construction.

A $54 million first phase is on time for a five-day grand opening of the Murphy Arts Center, named for one of the city’s leading oil families, starting Sept. 27. Phase 1 focuses on the historic Griffin Building, once a car showroom and assembly center for Model T’s. Nabholz Construction Corp. of Conway is carefully reshaping the 1929 structure into a restaurant, cabaret and 2,000-seat music hall overlooking an 8,000-capacity outdoor amphitheater and a 2-acre children’s playscape. Murphy Oil Corp. has its headquarters five blocks to the north.

The $32 million second phase will remake the 1930s-vintage Rialto Theater, an old bus depot and the four-story McWilliams Building into an art gallery, exhibition hall and residence hall for artists.

“This is a quality-of-life initiative to make the town attractive to visitors and to residents,” Barrow said, citing recent studies that found that half of the downtown district’s 800 white-collar workers spend more than half of their weekends out of town, and that 150 jobs paying better than $75,000 a year are unfilled because “people won’t move to El Dorado to fill them.”

Barrow says the town is constantly exporting the cash of residents who keep condos in Hot Springs, Dallas and New Orleans. “I’m hoping our project will keep these people home more, and increase the likelihood of other companies relocating here with a large employee base.”

The overall $100 million project, based a few blocks south of Union Square, is an “arts story, a construction story, a historic preservation story and an economic development story,” said Festivals & Events Chief Marketing Officer Bob Tarren. Seeking to turn El Dorado into “the Festival City of the South,” the initiative struck a chord not just with Barrow and Mayor Frank Hash, but also with top business leaders in this town of 19,000, which has lost more than a quarter of its population since 1980.

“This is a venture with a purpose,” Hash told Arkansas Business last week. Beyond visitors, it targets employees at Murphy Oil and its publicly traded spinoffs, gasoline retailer Murphy USA and Deltic Timber. Chemical workers and other well-paid employees abound in town, Hash said. “It’s important that El Dorado has enough sophistication to keep those folks here, having a good time.”

The city has committed millions in economic-development tax proceeds, and the federal government is providing basically 25 percent of construction costs on the Griffin project in the form of historic preservation tax credits.

A 1 percent city sales tax approved by voters in 2007 produced some $34 million over eight years, with about $9.5 million of that going for the Arts Center, Hash said. The tax was renewed in 2015, leaving a 2.25 percent city sales tax burden on top of the state’s 6.5 percent and Union County’s 2 percent. The extension is expected to yield $50 million over 10 years. How much of that will go to the Arts Center will be determined after Phase 2 is underway.

City sales tax proceeds have fluctuated since rising from $3.45 million in 2007 to $6.42 million in 2008, the first full year of the economic development tax, according to figures from the state. El Dorado’s total slipped below $6 million in 2010 and 2012, and fell to a troubling $5.46 million in 2015 before rebounding to $6.83 million last year, the best revenue year ever.

A September Opening
But the bulk of the budget for the arts initiative, known as the Union Square project before it took the Murphy name, has been raised from donors. “We’ve raised about $65 million of our $100 million goal so far,” Barrow said. “I have no doubt that we’ll reach our target.”

The grand opening Sept. 27-Oct. 1 will feature events at the Griffin restaurant and cabaret, the attached music hall and the amphitheater. The weekend marks the 30th anniversary of MusicFest El Dorado, and the children’s playground opening and a large free outdoor concert are set for Sunday, Oct. 1.

Madison Murphy and Claiborne Deming of the Murphy Oil family were instrumental in initiating the Arts Center project, as was Edwin Alderson, another son of an Arkansas oil pioneer.

Murphy, a former chairman of the Arkansas State Highway Commission, has led efforts to get four lanes of highway all the way from Little Rock to El Dorado, and Barrow pointed to the 15 miles of orange construction barrels lining U.S. 167 north of town as evidence. The 2 1/2-hour drive has been cut closer to two hours, and the Highway & Transportation Department is working on plans to widen and improve Hillsboro Street, a major east-west artery in town, using a model imported from the streets and roundabouts near Hendrix College in Conway.

Roads are one of the four legs of Madison Murphy’s platform for economic development, Barrow said. Next is “taxing yourself to help yourself,” an ideal fulfilled by the economic development levy.

Then comes education, exemplified by construction of a new high school several years ago and by the El Dorado Promise, a program guaranteeing that Murphy Oil will pay college tuition costs for graduates of El Dorado High School. In the decade since its inception, the Promise has become a model, and the percentage of local graduates attending college has shot up, with some attending South Arkansas Community College just up the hill from the Arts Center site.

The economic development ingredient is quality of life, which is where El Dorado Festivals & Events fits in.

“The city had done a lot, winning awards with Main Street El Dorado’s renovations, building the El Dorado Conference Center to attract outside conferences and let our big publicly traded companies hold meetings,” Barrow said. “But there was more to be done.”

The city hired Destination Development International Inc., led by community marketing guru Roger Brooks, who spent months in El Dorado and noted similarities with Ashland, Oregon, home of a popular Shakespeare festival.

“What he found, quite earnestly, is that El Dorado has a very old and impassioned history in the arts,” Barrow said.

“The South Arkansas Arts Center [on East Fifth Street], for example, is celebrating its 53rd year. The South Arkansas Symphony has turned 61.”

Bringing It Home
So when Barrow came home for a Christmas visit in 2010, a group led by Murphy and Alderson took him to lunch.

“Brooks had suggested building a Shakespeare theater similar to Ashland,” Barrow recalled. “I said that was the craziest thing I’d ever heard, and I hoped that they had an enormous endowment because nobody was going to come; there were already three major Shakespeare companies within 200 miles of El Dorado.”

Later, Barrow got a call from Alderson. “I didn’t realize the lunch had been an interview; I just thought they wanted me to vet an idea. But he said, ‘Hey, you were the crazy guy that told us we didn’t know what the hell we were doing, so we want to hire you.’

“I’m a guy from the arts, so of course the Arts Center idea resonated with me,” said Barrow, who has an undergraduate degree in theater from Louisiana Tech University and ran the fine arts division at Andrew College in Georgia after earning an MFA at the University of Arkansas. “But I was surprised that these very powerful, wealthy men were saying, you know, this has some merit.”

Barrow moved back to El Dorado in May 2011. “I think they wanted someone from here on the project,” Barrow said. “We’ve all heard of towns that commissioned big plans and never followed through.”

He was eventually joined by Terry Stewart of Cleveland, who became Festivals & Events’ CEO. “He’s the former president and CEO of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and he ran Marvel Comics before that. Terry’s been around the block, and he’s had a real hard life, as you can tell from his resume,” Barrow said with a sly grin. “We did our own study and found that entertainment and music were high on the list of what people wanted. Kids’ activities was also high, as were great places to eat. Food is actually entertainment now.”

After initial fundraising among “true believers,” the project acquired about eight blocks on the south side of downtown for about $2 million. “As they develop a property, the city buys it and leases it back for a nominal fee,” Mayor Hash said. “That lets Festivals & Events reinvest their money in the program.”

Architecture firm Westlake Reed Leskosky of Cleveland, led by managing principal Paul Westlake, identified several structures that could be renovated to serve the project, primarily the Griffin, Rialto and McWilliams buildings. Other structures will be coming down, with one notable exception — Hill’s Recreation Parlor on Cedar Street. “We can’t touch that,” Barrow said. “It’s the oldest continuously operating pool hall in the state.”

Star Amenities, and a Jail
Barrow turned to his knowledge of artists to aid in designing a hall to help the Griffin attract top acts. The huge stage can accommodate the largest touring rock shows, and amenities like a VIP dressing room only steps from the bus bay, and an artists’ elevator directly to the stage, should get music stars talking, Barrow hopes. “They’ll tell other artists, tell their managers and agents, and I think that will put us on these stars’ radar.”

Other features of the 70,000-SF Griffin are practical, including a central production suite and concessions and food service areas. “We have enough facilities down below to do shows in the cabaret, the music hall and out there [the amphitheater] at the same time,” Barrow said. There will even be a holding jail. “With the number of shows we’re going to have, you gotta have a jail,” Barrow said with a laugh. “There will always be a few crazies.”

El Dorado Glass, which owned the Griffin building, moved to another site in town, as did Delta Press, a magazine and book publisher in the area. That cleared the way for Nabholz to start, along with Milam Construction of El Dorado, the general contractor on the amphitheater, and the Weber Group, general contractor on the playground.

“Milam has done more ground work around El Dorado than anybody else, and an amphitheater is about 90 percent grounds, so that made sense,” Barrow said over the hammering and roar of construction equipment while leading a reporter on a tour. “Nabholz, with its experience at Crystal Bridges in Bentonville, we definitely wanted them involved. And Weber, out of Indiana, is known for its work with Great Wolf Lodge [a chain of indoor water parks] and other huge entertainment projects for kids.”

Lance Wright, the project manager for Nabholz, described the Griffin as a unique challenge. “It’s a great project, and working on a building from the 1920s has been exciting,” he said, though requirements for the historic restoration tax incentives were exacting. “We couldn’t significantly alter the structure, so we had all of this electrical and plumbing and hundreds of feet of conduit that had to go into a limited space. With a new project you can adjust, raise ceilings, do other things, but all this had to fit into what space was there.”

Wright, who said construction is on time and on budget, was given a priority of working with local subcontractors, including Glenn Mechanical for HVAC and plumbing; El Dorado Roofing; El Dorado Glass; Storey’s Floor & Carpet; and the Systems Group for steel fabrication and erecting.

Many supplies came from local vendors, including Barker Steel, Ken’s Hardware, Hays Rental and Artattack Graphic Design. Union County Solid Waste handled construction debris.

Merchants Hopeful
Merchants around the courthouse square, where streetlight banners announce “It’s Showtime!” are hoping the Arts Center will stimulate business. “Traffic has been down this spring,” said Sandra Vaughn, owner of Jefferson Street Books, a bright, tidy shop filled with popular titles, volumes on philosophy and politics and book-related plush toys. “Business is slow, and if it weren’t for out-of-town customers, people from nearby towns that make a trip out of it, we would be worse off.”

Nick McKinney, who relocated from Monroe, Louisiana, about a year ago to open an antiques shop around the corner, praised El Dorado’s beauty and friendliness, but agreed that business could be better. “Hopefully the Arts Center will bring a big boost to the entire community, but of course visitors don’t really buy antiques.”

Barrow has no illusions that his mission will be easy. He doesn’t expect concerts and exhibitions to bring 40,000 people running to El Dorado overnight as the Busey No. 1 gusher did in January 1921.

“El Dorado isn’t a big crossroads, but we have spent years refining a plan, and our $100 million fundraising goal should give us a cushion,” he said.

Barrow said that people don’t like to talk about it, but “arts centers lose money; they all do.” The books of any entertainment district will reveal a contributed line and an earned line, he said. “The contributed line is about 60 percent and the earned line is about 40. We would love to correct that model, but when we hit our funding goal, and if we operate with success, we’ll have about five years to close up about a $2 million annual hole. And we have lots of ideas for doing that.”

Kimbel Mechanical Systems of Springdale moved into new digs at the start of this month.

CEO Brad Smith said in an Executive Q&A with Arkansas Business on Feb. 13 that if he could change one thing about his company, it would be that Kimbel Mechanical have a bigger office.

Smith, who bought the business in 2016 from Rob Kimbel, got his wish when he moved the firm into a spacious 76,000-SF building at 1936 N. Shiloh Drive in Fayetteville.

The company previously was located in 21,000 SF at 9310 Wagon Wheel Road in Springdale.

Here’s what’s more interesting: Kimbel is moving into a building formerly occupied by one-time e-commerce sensation Acumen Brands. Acumen Brands, now known as One Country, was put up for sale earlier this year after falling on hard times.

The building Kimbel moved into was Acumen Brands’ former office space. Acumen Brands used a larger, 200,000-SF warehouse facility across the street to fill what it said in 2014 was 7,500 weekly orders; it used high-tech robotics to fill the orders.

Both the office and warehouse facilities are owned by Magnum Properties LLC, which is led by Phil Phillips.

As for Acumen, former CEO John James — who in February said he was negotiating to buy it — said he heard the company had been sold, but he didn’t know any details.

Terry Turpin, who co-founded Acumen with James in 2009, did not return a phone message and the phone at the company’s former headquarters had been disconnected.

Acumen Brands’ had branded online stores such as Country Outfitter, which sold Western wear, and Scrub Shopper, which sold medical uniforms. It made news when it received a $83 million investment from General Atlantic in 2013.

James left Acumen in 2014 to focus on his startup support company, Hayseed Ventures. James bought Scrub Shopper in 2016 from Acumen, paying what James said was a seven-figure amount.

The news has been better for Kimbel Mechanical, obviously. Kimbel won the 2016 Arkansas Business of the Year for companies with 76-300 employees, and Smith was a finalist for Business Executive of the Year.

Kimbel does plumbing, electrical and HVAC installations in residential buildings in 22 states. Kimbel had revenue of $76 million in 2016 and approximately 400 full-time employees and third-party contractors, and Smith said his goal was to have Kimbel reach $100 million in revenue by 2019.

Mini-storage in North Little Rock and two warehouses in Little Rock provide our trio of multimillion-dollar transactions this week.

• Modern Storage Maumelle Blvd LLC, led by Keith Richardson, bought its namesake 67,935-SF mini-storage project at 9100 Maumelle Blvd. in North Little Rock for $3.3 million.

Seller: JWL I Ltd., led by William Titus.

• Sage V Foods LLC of Los Angeles purchased the 59,404-SF cold storage warehouse at 6100 Lindsay Road in Little Rock for more than $1.7 million from Ben E. Keith Co. of Fort Worth, Texas.

• Pierce Smith LLC, led by Tyler Pierce and Blake Smith, acquired the 56,880-SF Golf Cart Wholesalers warehouse at 1515 E. Fourth St. in Little Rock for nearly $1.4 million.

Seller? 1515 Holdings Inc., led by Nick Pierce.

It looks like the logistics company Vouk Transportation Inc. of North Little Rock has hit another rough patch.

Bank of Little Rock filed to foreclose on Vouk’s headquarters because it allegedly defaulted on a $826,000 mortgage taken out in May 2015, according to the bank’s filings in Pulaski County Circuit Court.

The bank said Vouk, which has a legal name of 3BE Logistics LLC, hasn’t made timely installments on the note. And as of last month, $806,000 was owed on the loan secured by the 13,682-SF building, which was built in 2002.

Vouk’s president, Christopher Blakley, signed the document, making him “jointly and severally liable for all amounts due under the Note,” according to the complaint.

When we called Vouk for comment on Thursday, the phone just rang and rang.

The company’s website says it offers services that include expedited shipping, warehousing or auto-hauling.

“At Vouk Transportation, you are our first priority,” the website said.

“When you are at the top of our chain, you don’t worry about efficiency, cost or delivery — we do that for you, every time.”

Back in 2012, its former executive, Leander J. Muncy III, was sentenced to 24 months in federal prison and three years of probation after pleading guilty to one count of theft and embezzlement from Vouk’s employee pension benefit plan.

In addition to time behind bars, Muncy was ordered to pay $268,720 in restitution

Muncy held various positions at Vouk Transportation, including president and vice president, from September 2004 to August 2010, during which he was trustee of the company’s employee profit sharing plan.

A 35,520-SF office building in west Little Rock weighed in at $3.25 million.

Normandy Place LLC, led by Max Mehlburger, purchased the Markham Executive Center at 10201 W. Markham St. The seller is Security Plan Life Insurance Co. of Donaldsonville, Louisiana.

The deal is financed with a 21-year loan of $1.76 million from BancorpSouth Bank of Tupelo, Mississippi.

The 1.93-acre development was bought in October 2008 as part of the $8 million acquisition of Ozark National Life Insurance Co. by the parent company of Security Plan Life, Citizens Inc. of Austin, Texas.

Meadowcrest Purchase
A 122-unit apartment project in southwest Little Rock tipped the scales at $2.8 million.

Meadowcrest Apartments LLC, led by Don Marshall Jr., sold its namesake complex at 5315 Stanley Drive to Colonial Park RBG LLC of West Plains, Missouri.

The deal is funded with a five-year loan of $2.2 million from Arvest Bank of Fayetteville. The 7.57-acre development previously was tied to a June 2010 mortgage of $2.3 million held by One Bank & Trust of Little Rock.

The property was assembled in four transactions totaling more than $1 million.

The sellers were Zato Investments Ltd., led by Michael Rushin, $1 million in October 2003; Mahmood Qadri and Zohra Sharief, $48,000 in December 2003; Oldner Real Estate Management Inc., led by John Oldner, $15,000 in February 2004; and Habitat for Humanity of Saline County Arkansas Inc., led by Donna Bosley, $12,000 in March 2004.

Dollar Deal
A Dollar General Store in Little Rock is under new ownership after a $1.22 million transaction.

GRT Little Rock DG LLC of San Rafael, California, bought the 9,360-SF store at 4748 Springer Blvd. from Rosebud Springer LLC of Huntington Beach, California.

The 1.02-acre development previously was linked with a December 2014 mortgage of $720,000 held by Arvest Bank.

The project was purchased for $1.2 million in December 2014 from PB General Holdings (Springer) LLC, led by Leonard Boen.

Tandem Foreclosures
A pair of Little Rock retail projects changed hands in foreclosure sales totaling $985,000.

YN Investments LLC, led by Murad Mandani, acquired the 15,460-SF South Park Center at 7515 Geyer Springs Road for $640,000 and a 3,016-SF project at 10507 Stagecoach Road for $345,000.

The properties were owned by RWL Investments LLC, led by Ron Lazenby.

The 1.81-acre South Park development previously helped secure an April 2014 mortgage of $3.1 million held by First Community Bank of Eastern Arkansas in Marion and a July 2014 mortgage of $640,000 held by Centennial Bank of Conway.

The property was purchased for $424,000 in January 2001 from Whitestone Investment Group of Los Angeles.

The 0.69-acre Stagecoach development previously secured a March 2013 mortgage of $500,000 held by Centennial Bank.

The location was bought for $160,000 in March 2013 from RJ Properties LLC, led by Douglas and David Hendrix.

Retail Transaction
A 15,453-SF retail center in North Little Rock rang up a $950,000 sale.

Gosen LLC, led by Joseph Minkyu Park, purchased the Family Dollar Store, Subway and New World Beauty project at 4202-04 Camp Robinson Road.

The seller is James Family Properties LLLP, led by Judith Scherer.

The deal is backed with a 20-year loan of $760,000 from BancorpSouth Bank.

The 1.52-acre location was acquired for $230,000 in November 2003 from Fleming Cos. Inc. of Oklahoma City.

School Sale
A former elementary school in North Little Rock drew a $530,000 transaction.

I-40 Kerr LLC, led by Byron McKimmey, bought the Park Hill Elementary project at 3801 JFK Blvd. from the North Little Rock School District.

The 5.27-acre property was assembled in two transactions with Justin and Agnes Matthews for “the minimum legal consideration” of $1 in September 1924 and his Metropolitan Trust Co., $30,000 in May 1951.

Commercial Land
A 4.61-acre commercial site in North Little Rock sold for $425,000.

Richardson Properties LLC, led by Keith Richardson, acquired sole ownership of the land on the south side of 9300 Maumelle Blvd.

The seller is MGY LLC, led by Marc Yelenich.

The property was bought through RichMarc Development LLC in January 2002 for $215,000.

The sellers were Nancy and Robert Lott, Carlos Robinson Jr. and his wife, Thressi, McKinley and Sansanee Robinson, Ruben and Joyce Robinson, Arthur and Margaret Ellison Hubert, Treopia Bryant and Elsie Dodson.

Estates Home
A 4,330-SF home in the Somersett Estates neighborhood of west Pulaski County is under new ownership after a $730,000 deal.

Christie and Deno Grumbos purchased the property from Stuart and Mitzi Miller.

The deal is financed with a 30-year loan of $424,100 from Arvest Bank.

The 5-acre residential spread previously was tied to a June 2015 mortgage of $484,380 held by BancorpSouth Bank.

The location was acquired for $75,000 in February 2013 from Joey and Brandy Rhodes.

Mirabel Residence
A 3,700-SF home in the Mirabel Court neighborhood of west Little Rock’s Chenal Valley development changed hands in a $534,900 transaction.

Maroun and Kay Farah bought the house from Randy James Construction Co. The deal is funded with a 30-year loan of $418,410 from NFTN Inc. of Lewisville, Texas.

The residence previously was linked with a June 2016 mortgage of $368,000 held by First Security Bank of Searcy.

The location was purchased for $87,000 11 months ago from Crain Family Holdings LLC, led by Larry Crain Jr.

Chimney Rock House
A 5,280-SF home in Sherwood’s Chimney Rock neighborhood rang up a $525,000 sale.

Carl and Mary Peterson acquired the house from the Roby & Tonya Lambert Family Trust.

The deal is backed with a 30-year loan of $420,000 from IberiaBank of Lafayette, Louisiana.

The residence was bought for $735,000 in September 2005 from Jason and Ginger Ford.

Woodland’s Dwelling
A 3,485-SF home in the Woodland’s Edge neighborhood of west Little Rock drew a $508,000 transaction.

David and Amelia Bardwell purchased the house from River Rock Builders LLC, led by Keith Wingfield. The deal is financed with a 30-year loan of $457,149 from Wells Fargo Bank of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

The residence previously was tied to an April 2016 mortgage of $392,000 held by BancorpSouth Bank.

River Rock acquired the location for $72,000 in January 2015 from Rocket Properties LLC, led by Ron Tyne and Lisenne Rockefeller.

Seven-Digit Construction

Kroger Remodel    $3,432,386
2509 McCain Blvd., North Little Rock
CDI Contractors LLC, Little Rock
 
Collision Center Remodeling    $1,945,000
10005 Col. Glenn Road, Little Rock
ITR Construction LLC, North Little Rock
 
New Home    $1,050,000
13900 Beau Vue Drive, Little Rock
Parkinson Building Group Inc., Little Rock

“Good Day Sunshine” blared over the loudspeaker, followed by “Keep on the Sunny Side” and “Walking on Sunshine.”

Time to feel good? Absolutely, for Entergy Arkansas CEO Rick Riley and Armando Pimentel, CEO of NextEra Energy Resources, who were breaking ground last week on Arkansas’ largest solar installation. The 81-megawatt utility-scale array near Stuttgart is expected to come on line before year’s end.

The bright sun glinted off stainless steel hard hats worn by Riley, Pimentel and other officials as they turned the earth, and every speaker at the groundbreaking brought up the sunshine. Stuttgart Mayor J.W. Green even thanked the Almighty for it in his invocation. Soon, 350,000 solar panels will sprout on 475 acres of former Arkansas County rice fields, providing power for 13,000 homes.

Meanwhile, 600 miles to the northeast, crews from Scenic Hill Solar of North Little Rock are installing solar panels on the roof of a L’Oreal cosmetics plant in Florence, Kentucky. Scenic Hill, led by former Arkansas Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, cut the ribbon last month on a multimillion-dollar array at L’Oreal’s North Little Rock plant.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, Seal Energy Solutions of Little Rock is working the small side of solar, partnering with Habitat for Humanity to install small rooftop units on “tiny houses,” starting with two new 700-SF homes in the Baring Cross area of North Little Rock.

“No matter what the scale is, solar makes sense economically,” Seal Energy CEO Josh Davenport said as his team put a three-panel, 1.08-kilowatt solar unit atop a Habitat of Humanity home on Frank Street opposite Vestal Park. “Solar is perfect for low-income housing, and particularly for these homes built by Habitat, which are already hugely energy efficient. It works for a tiny house, for a big factory like L’Oreal and for homes and businesses in between. Look at the numbers. Now anybody can afford solar.”

Regulatory Uncertainty
These are promising times for solar projects big and small, industry leaders say, even as the new administration in Washington focuses on reviving fossil fuels. But Arkansas solar leaders say the industry here is hobbled becase rules for home power generation are unsettled. Until a group working on net-metering for the state Public Service Commission presents its suggestions for rates and tariffs in September, those doubts will remain an issue, said Frank Kelly, a Little Rock financial planner and solar consultant.

While total solar numbers in Arkansas are hard to come by, Kelly says fewer than 600 home and small-business solar arrays in the state use net metering, the system that lets utilities give customers credit for the power they generate. But vendors like Kelly and Davenport see vast potential as costs fall.

“I agree with Frank that we’ll know more once the PSC report is out in September. But for now, people have a chance to install solar and be grandfathered in under the present rules and lock in their rates for 20 or 25 years,” Davenport said.

Heather Nelson, Seal’s president and COO, said she and her 47 employees were pleased to demonstrate solar’s value even on the smallest of homes. “It’s clean and affordable, and we are proud to join forces with Habitat for Humanity in our backyard. We’re testing how these panels perform, and seeing if they’ll be practical in most or all the homes Habitat builds. We are thinking these units might cut utility bills to next to nothing.”

Habitat’s volunteer labor builds housing for qualified low-income homeowners, using paid contractors only for specialties like electric, plumbing and heating and air. The homeowner gets a house with a small mortgage covering the cost of materials, and in the case of the Frank Street houses, solar units accompany LED lighting, Rheem heat pumps and heavy insulation. The central Arkansas Habitat group, led by Director of Development Justin Buck, has built or rehabbed 170 homes since 1989.

John James, construction manager on the side-by-side two-bedroom houses on Frank Street, said he has overseen 28 new-construction homes for Habitat over the past six years. “These are all very efficient, Energy Star 3, with insulation in the walls and attic,” he said. “These are built better than some of the million-dollar houses in Chenal.”

Seal Energy initially built its business on efficiency retrofit projects. “It’s the heart of what we do,” Nelson said. “It doesn’t make sense to put state-of-the-art solar on a leaky building.”

Kelly, who leads SolarSource Consulting and is chairman of the Arkansas Renewable Energy Association, praised Seal’s work with Habitat but said many worthy projects are hindered by the state’s ambiguous attitude toward renewable energy. Lobbying by utilities and the state’s electric cooperatives keep the rooftop solar industry “limping along,” he said. “I tell people if you’re in the solar business in Arkansas, you’re lucky to be in business.”

He said less than a tenth of 1 percent of potential customers buy systems, but that a cloud-based system he developed a decade ago using satellite technology had made the quote-making process simple. “Just call up, answer six questions and you’re set,” he said.

Arkansas’ sunny landscape ranks as the country’s 16th-best solar resource, he said, but the state is 50th in installed solar capacity. “In Louisiana there are probably 50,000 net-metering homes and businesses,” Kelly said. “I chalk the difference up to the resistance and lobbying power of Arkansas utilities.”

Economical and Beneficial
Kelly gave credit to Entergy for its Stuttgart project, which CEO Riley said would enhance one of the “cleanest energy production portfolios across the country.”

NextEra, of Juno Beach, Florida, is building the array and will sell its power to Entergy under a 20-year power purchase agreement. The exact cost of it is under seal by the PSC, but commission Executive Director, John Bethel, called the solar plant “economical and beneficial,” adding that the price would “compare favorably” to power generated by coal or gas.

Kelly said utilities will embrace solar only if they own it. “In the trenches these guys normally get what they want, and it’s all about protecting their monopoly position.”

Kelly teamed up with Bill Ball of Little Rock to create Arkansas’ first “meter aggregation facility,” Bearskin Solar Center in Scott. “It’s a great policy the PSC put in place in 2014 where customers can own their own solar panels at a large common array. Their meter at Bearskin will correspond to their meter at home, and Entergy will credit the power generated against the power they’ve used.”

L’Oreal’s Commitment
L’Oreal is one of central Arkansas’ largest industrial employers with 500 workers at its North Little Rock plant. Its projects with Scenic Hill Solar are part of a commitment to operate U.S. operations completely with renewable power.

At the North Little Rock site, where Scenic Hill installed 3,600 sun-tracking panels outside the 450,000-SF plant, the array is the state’s third-largest commercial solar plant, providing 1.2 megawatts and cutting carbon emissions by 556 metric tons per year, the company said.

Scenic Hill is installing 5,000 panels at the Kentucky plant.

“We have achieved and even exceeded our target of a 60 percent reduction in CO2 emissions four years ahead of schedule,” L’Oreal Chairman and CEO Jean-Paul Agon said, noting that those environmental gains, the result of a program the company calls Sharing Beauty With All, came as its cosmetics production increased by 29 percent.

Halter wouldn’t put a price on the L’Oreal projects, his company’s first undertakings, but he said the installations would provide $7.5 million worth of electricity over 30 years.

“We’re pleased that we met all our objectives,” Halter told Arkansas Business. “We finished ahead of schedule with better production than even we anticipated. We used an Arkansas-based electrical firm, B&K Electric of Benton, and we look forward to doing more projects with them. We had planned on delivery to L’Oreal for July, so we were way ahead of schedule.”

The Kentucky array will provide 1.42 megawatts of power, making it the largest commercial solar operation in that state. “The combined emphasis for companies is that they get the benefit of sustainability along with the understanding that solar power is cost-effective,” Halter said. “We’re excited not just about the Florence project, but also about discussions under way for further projects inside Arkansas and around the country.”

OECC Catches Rays, and Recognition

Several of the state’s electric cooperatives have ventured into solar power over the past several years, with Ouachita Electric Cooperative leading the way by distributing about 12 megawatts of power from a 151,000-panel array at Highland Industrial Park in Camden.

That installation, which largely serves the Aerojet Rocketdyne defense plant nearby, also gives OECC a cushion at times of peak power demand.

Last month the cooperative, which serves about 9,500 homes and businesses in south Arkansas, was named as one of the top 10 power companies nationwide for providing solar energy to customers per capita.

OECC provided 1,282 watts of solar power per customer, ranking it fourth among U.S. electricity providers by that measure, according to the Smart Electric Power Association.

The No. 1 solar provider was the city utility of Palo Alto, California, at 2,753 watts per customer. In February, Palo Alto approved a contract providing some of the lowest-cost solar power ever negotiated in the United States, a price of 3.67 cents per kilowatt-hour in a 25-year deal with Hecate Energy of Nashville, Tennessee.

What keeps tech leader Doug Hutchings in Arkansas?

The CEO of Fayetteville startup Picasolar says one anchor is a new capital campaign to raise $3 million for his business, which uses advanced techniques to improve solar cells and reduce their costs.

But he has a bigger reason, he told the Arkansas Advanced Energy Foundation in Little Rock last week.

“My wife loves Arkansas.”

Hutchings does too, and the Mena native said other things like natural beauty and cost-of-living advantages also favor Arkansas. The member of the 2015 40 Under 40 class already has soft commitments for about $1 million in new capital from previous investors, and he plans to keep fundraising in his home state.

“Arkansas has a great business environment, and beyond the cost-of-living advantages and all the support we get from the University of Arkansas, it’s also cheaper to run a business here,” he said. “If we were in California or someplace else, we wouldn’t be asking for $3 million in capital. It would be more like $6 million or $7 million.”

A grocery store in Vilonia, a church in Benton, Burger Kings in Cabot and Conway, a west Little Rock manor and an auto project in Sherwood have assembled for a six-pack of multimillion-dollar transactions.

• Harps Food Stores Inc. of Springdale sold its 31,500-SF store at 1086 Main St. in Vilonia for more than $4.9 million.

Buyer in this sale-leaseback deal: an affiliate of Cole Capital of Phoenix.

• Summit Church purchased Salem Baptist Church at 3069 Salem Road for $2.4 million. The deal included a pair of adjoining duplexes at 3141 Salem Road and a parsonage.

• Rowan Development LLC, led by Jasen Chi, bought a 9,326-SF home in the Chenal Downs neighborhood for more than $1.7 million.

Sellers: Steve Landers Jr. and his wife, Karmen.

• Flis Investments LLC, led by Christopher Flis, sold its Burger King at 1100 W. Main St. in Cabot for $1.7 million to Rachael JG LLC of West Hills, California.

• I-40 RV Exchange Holdings LLC acquired the Evans Motors project at 6701 Warden Road in Sherwood for more than $1.4 million.

Seller? Evans Properties, led by Paul, Darrell and Ralph Evans.

• FRP Cantrell Falls LLC, led by Dominic Flis, purchased the Burger King at 905 U.S. 65 in Conway for nearly $1.4 million from Arkaproperties LLC of North Platte, Nebraska.

The Texas podiatrist who wants to buy the hotel and convention center on the Arkansas side of Texarkana out of bankruptcy asked a judge to reconsider the denial of some tax incentives tied to the project.

The potential buyer, Dr. James J. Naples, entered into a $6.6 million purchase agreement with Dr. Hiren Patel, who owns the Holiday Inn and Arkansas Convention Center through his Texarkana Hotels LLC, which is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

If Naples buys the property, he wants the city of Texarkana’s Advertising & Promotion Commission pledge to pay $150,000 annually for 15 years to continue.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Brenda T. Rhoades approved the sale of the property last month, but most of the tax incentives, which total nearly $500,000 per year, aren’t going to continue with the new owner. That includes the A&P’s $150,000.

Rhoades ruled that the agreement with the A&P could not be assumed by Texarkana Hotels and transferred to Naples.

Naples argued in his court filing last week in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Texas that there is nothing in Arkansas law that prevents the assignment of the A&P incentive.

The attorney representing Naples, Mark Weisbart of Dallas, didn’t immediately return a call for comment.

A hearing on the motion has not been scheduled.

If the deal with Naples falls apart, the backup buyer for the Holiday Inn and Arkansas Convention Center is MidSouth Bank of Lafayette, Louisiana, which said Patel’s company defaulted on $10 million in loans.

Texarkana Hotels filed for bankruptcy in March 2016. It listed $10.6 million in debts and $5.2 million in assets.

The ranch wrangling continues in Conway.

That would be the legal tussling over a ranch-and-restaurant complex that led to foreclosure proceedings against Joanie White-Wagoner, administrator and vice president of Baptist Health Medical Center-Conway.

A lawyer for White-Wagoner and her husband, Darren Wagoner, who are accused by Centennial Bank of defaulting on a $2.5 million mortgage and other loans, said in a statement to Arkansas Business on Thursday that his clients are the victims of fraud by the previous owner, Letitia McMaster.

Attorney Beau Wilcox of Conway said that financial data provided by McMaster before the sale was inaccurate, and “was in fact manipulated to mislead and induce them into the purchase” of the 45-acre Back Achers Ranch and Legends Bar & Grill on College Avenue, which includes a 47,000-SF arena and a house on nearby Shock Loop.

Wilcox said the business ventures were already failing before the sale, and that misrepresentations by McMaster constitute “outright fraud.”

In an April 27 motion in Faulkner County Circuit Court, Wilcox said the Wagoners had filed a third-party complaint against McMaster alleging fraud and breach of contract.

He asked the court to order Centennial to amend its complaint to include McMaster as a defendant. The bank responded that it had no obligation to do so, and that it had seen no evidence of fraud.

In a filing last week, McMaster’s attorney, Otto R. Fry, said she had “not breached the contractual agreement in any manner,” and that the “allegations of fraud and misrepresentation are wholly without merit and should be dismissed.”

Fry also claimed that the Wagoners had defaulted on a separate promissory note to McMaster, failing to make a single $409 monthly payment on the note’s $62,000 debt.

‘Eager to Foist the Loan’
Wilcox said that Centennial, which filed its original lawsuit on Dec. 29, seven months after the Wagoners assumed McMaster’s mortgage, was also misled and defrauded.

But, Wilcox said, “the bank continued to modify loans to the prior owner based on misinformation, and then when my clients took over, the bank was overly eager to foist the loan onto them and then foreclose quickly when things went sour.”

McMaster did not respond to a phone message before press time Thursday.

Attorney Vaughan Hankins of Sherwood, representing Centennial, confirmed that the bank has requested a trial date on the foreclosure and said the Wagoners had “surrendered the property.”

Wilcox characterized the Wagoners as honorable and intelligent people who were “victimized in this ordeal.” They had agreed for the bank to take possession of the property to secure it for a possible sale.

Buyer interest is high, he said, but “obviously it is an expensive and unique piece of property” with a “limited range of possible investors.”

In other filings, the Wagoners confirmed that they have moved off the property.

Wilcox said his clients had tried to work with Centennial, “but to be frank, we are disappointed that they have chosen to so aggressively pursue my clients.”

The bank says the Wagoners, who were operating as Inception Management Group LLC, have not made a payment since late September.

Joanie White-Wagoner, who managed a Texas hospital before moving to Arkansas in 2016, has run Baptist’s hospital in Conway since its opening in September.

WASHINGTON — Construction of new homes fell for a second straight month in April, pushing activity to the lowest point in five months.

Housing starts fell 2.6 percent in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.17 million units, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. That followed a 6.6 percent decline in March and left home building at its lowest point since last November. The weakness was led by a big drop in construction of apartments, a volatile sector.

Nevertheless, housing construction has been one of the bright spots for the economy. Analysts expect that the number of Americans seeking homes will rebound in the coming months, driven by strong employment gains and low unemployment.

In April, construction of single-family homes edged up a slight 0.4 percent to an annual rate of 835,000 units. Construction of multi-family units dropped a sharp 9.2 percent to a rate of 337,000 units.

The weakness was led by a 37.3 percent plunge in activity in the Northeast and a 9.1 percent drop in the South. Those gains offset a 41.1 percent rise in the Midwest and a 5.4 percent increase in the West.

While the overall economy grew at a lackluster 0.7 percent rate in the first quarter, the housing sector stood out with a solid 13.7 percent growth rate. Economists are looking for housing to continue to support overall growth for the rest of the year.

The National Associated of Home Builders/Wells Fargo builder index rose to 70 this month, up two points from an April reading of 68. Reading above 50 indicate builders view sales conditions as good. The index has been above 60 since September and the reading hit 71 in March, the highest level since June 2005 during the height of the last housing boom.

Even with construction running ahead of last year's pace, the supply of new and existing homes across much of the country remains tight.

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

The decline of the Fayetteville Shale cost jobs in Faulkner County, but a diverse economy led by sales, office and administrative professions continued to keep the unemployment rate near historic lows, according to data presented at Outlook Conway on Tuesday.

The event, presented by the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce, examines local economic trends. This year's event included panel discussions featuring leaders in real estate, energy and health care.

During remarks at the beginning of the event, Brad Lacy, CEO of the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce, outlined the county's employment picture, comparing Faulkner County with surrounding counties and two others he considers its peers: Craighead and Saline.

The three counties are roughly the same population size, although Faulkner is biggest, with about 122,000 people, and it has about 58,000 jobs. Craighead is the smallest, at about 106,000, but its jobs number is bigger, at 63,000, Lacy noted.

That's because of the mix of job sectors in each county, Lacy said. Faulkner relies heavily on employment in management positions; jobs in the computer and math arena; and business and financial professions.

For example, Faulkner County computer and math jobs — many tied to publicly traded data services provider Acxiom Corp. of Conway — amount to 1,800 jobs. That compares to 500 such jobs in Craighead, he said.

But Craighead makes up ground with jobs in health care and related fields, with 4,500 jobs versus Faulkner's 2,500. That owes to Craighead's long-term status as a key health care hub for northeast Arkansas, drawing workers from a larger area than does Faulkner County, which also must compete with Little Rock for those occupations.

In all, Conway posted a 3.1 percent unemployment rate in March, down from 3.4 percent in March 2016. Faulkner County's unemployment rate stands at 3.3 percent, down from 3.9 percent. Arkansas' March unemployment rate was 3.6 percent, down from 4 percent last year.

Lacy expects the county to see a boost in computer and math sector jobs, beyond 2,000, in light of Acxiom's decision to move its headquarters back to Conway. Acxiom, founded in Faulkner County, sold its Little Rock headquarters in March to Simmons First National Corp. of Pine Bluff. Acxiom plans to maintain a small office at Main and Third streets in Little Rock, with the bulk of its Arkansas workers in Conway.

Jobs in construction and energy extraction have also been a strength, Lacy said. Southwestern Energy Co., the third largest natural gas producer in the country, has a regional office in Conway and 600 workers in the area. Nabholz Corp. is also headquartered in Conway.

Lacy said the total value of building permits in Conway rose to $159.1 million in 2016, up from $114.8 million in 2015. He said the largest commercial project by value was Acadia Healthcare's $18 million behavioral health hospital, which broke ground in October. 

The second biggest was the new $13 million Sam's Club at Lewis Crossing. But Sam's was the biggest project in terms of size, at 136,000 SF, he said.

A 244-room hotel in west Little Rock tipped the scales at $13.5 million.

Crowne Plaza Little Rock LLC, led by Wally Allen, sold its namesake hotel at 201 S. Shackleford Road. The buyer is WLR Hotel LLC, led by Shashwat Goyal.

The deal is backed with a four-year loan of $10.2 million from Southern Bank of Poplar Bluff, Missouri.

The 4.22-acre development previously was linked with a December 2012 mortgage of $15 million held by Centennial Bank of Conway.

The location was bought for $2.2 million in January 1985 from Emporia Hotels Inc., led by Don Dreiske.

NLR Retail
A 6,000-SF retail building in North Little Rock weighed in at $2.57 million.

Vic and Victoria Alberti of Clovis, California, acquired the 11951 Maumelle Blvd. project, home to Mattress Firm and Verizon.

The seller is CGP Maumelle MF LLC of Birmingham, Alabama.

The deal is funded with a 25-year loan of $1.57 million from First Symetra National Life Insurance Co. of Seattle.

The 1.03-acre development previously was tied to a $2.1 million mortgage held by Sterling Bank of Poplar Bluff, Missouri.

The site was purchased for $745,000 in December 2015 from Simmons First National Bank of Pine Bluff.

Templars Transaction
A historic 10,041-SF building in downtown Little Rock rang up a $950,000 sale.

The Arkansas Department of Heritage bought the former headquarters of the Mosaic Templars of America at 906 Broadway.

The seller is the Leonal W. Kilgore Revocable Trust.

The 0.31-acre development previously was linked with a January 2006 mortgage of $1.6 million held by First Neodesha Bank of Neodesha, Kansas.

The property was acquired for $1.8 million more than 11 years ago.

The seller was S&D Holdings LLC, led by John Donaldson.

Warehouse Purchase
A 44,640-SF warehouse project in Little Rock changed hands in deals totaling $730,000.

MPV Leasing & Rentals LLC, led by Michael Vogelpohl, purchased the 6200 Patterson Road project and an adjoining 0.57-acre parcel. The sellers are P-Americas LLC of Dallas, $675,000; and Walk-Winn Plastic Co., led by Tommy Walker, $55,000.

The deal is financed with a five-year loan of $568,000 from Arvest Bank of Fayetteville.

The 4.41-acre P-Americas property was assembled in three deals totaling $338,000. The sellers were Mountain Valley Spring Co., $290,000 in May 1967; Industrial Development Co. of Little Rock, led by Everett Tucker Jr., $23,000 in September 1982; and $25,000 in April 1983.

Walk-Winn bought its property in October 1987 as part of a $500,000 deal with the Industrial Development Co. of Little Rock.

Office Acquisition I
A 3,312-SF office building in downtown Little Rock is under new ownership after a $390,000 sale.

H.O.E. Properties LLC, led by Frank Hamlin, acquired the 1101 W. Second St. project.

The seller is 1101 Partners LLC, led by Patty Lueken.

The seller provided a 10-year loan of $350,000 to facilitate the sale.

The 0.2-acre development was purchased for $133,750 in September 2014 from Ann and Walter Pincus.

Cosmetology Sale
A 5,358-SF commercial project in North Little Rock drew a $275,000 transaction.

Clifton Family LLLP, led by Norman Clifton, bought the Lee’s School of Cosmetology project at 2700 Pershing Blvd. from Linda Lee.

The property was acquired for $60,000 in September 1988 from Apartment House Builders Inc., led by John Kincannon.

Office Acquisition II
A 2,300-SF office building in Sherwood sold for $252,000.

Brad Barnett Insurance Agency Inc. purchased the 1610 E. Kiehl Ave. project from Frank Schulte.

The deal is backed with a three-year loan of $252,000 from Bear State Bank of Little Rock. The 0.46-acre development previously was tied to an April 2009 mortgage of $141,000 held by Centennial Bank.

Schulte bought the location for $60,000 in September 1996 from Kiehl Avenue Associates Ltd., led by Maury Mitchell Jr.

River Ridge Abode
A 4,515-SF home in Little Rock’s River Ridge Manor neighborhood changed hands in a $689,000 transaction.

John and Hope Lacey acquired the house from the Rosalyn D. Jacuzzi Revocable Trust.

The deal is funded with a 30-year loan of $200,000 from IberiaBank of Lafayette, Louisiana.

The property was purchased for $67,000 in June 1966 from H.C. and Mevrouw Coburn.

Cliffewood House
A 2,684-SF home in Little Rock’s Cliffewood neighborhood rang up a $655,000 sale.

Henry Barham III and his wife, Jeanne, bought the house from Tyler Kirk.

The deal is financed with a 30-year loan from Regions Bank of Birmingham, Alabama.

The residence previously was linked with a May 2016 mortgage of $675,000 held by Centennial Bank.

Kirk acquired the property for $675,000 a year ago from Kelly and Ellen Kreth.

Maisons Home
A 4,764-SF home in The Maisons neighborhood of west Little Rock’s Chenal Valley development is under new ownership after a $609,000 transaction.

Hal Palmer purchased the house from Omon and Cynthia Hill. The deal is backed with a 30-year loan of $424,000 from Arvest Bank.

The residence previously was tied to a February 2005 mortgage of $472,000 held by Merrill Lynch Credit Corp. of Jacksonville, Florida.

The Hills bought the property for $590,000 more than 12 years ago from Richard Harp Homes Inc.

Riverview Manor
A 3,644-SF home in the Riverview Manor neighborhood sold for $580,000.

Julia Watkins acquired the house from the Schwartz Family Living Trust, led by Michael and Stacey Schwartz.

The deal is funded with a one-year loan of $580,000 from BancorpSouth Bank of Tupelo, Mississippi. The residence previously was linked with a November 2015 mortgage of $400,400 held by Bank of America in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The Schwartz family purchased the property for $515,000 in December 2013 from David and Angela Williams.

Mirabel Dwelling
A 3,784-SF home in the Mirabel Court neighborhood of west Little Rock’s Chenal Valley development drew a $535,000 transaction.

Anthony and Mary Hilliard bought the house from Sharlow Builders & Developers LLC, led by Reggie Clow.

The deal is financed with a 15-year loan of $350,000 from Simmons Bank of Pine Bluff. The residence previously was tied to a December 2016 mortgage of $421,200 held by One Bank & Trust of Little Rock.

The location was acquired for $85,000 in December 2015 from Deltic Timber Corp. of El Dorado.

PV Residence
A 3,904-SF home in west Little Rock’s Pleasant Valley neighborhood rang up a $530,000 sale.

Brock Whisenhunt Jr. purchased the house from the Lorraine Funk Hannah Revocable Trust. The deal is backed with a 15-year loan of $424,000 from Bank of Little Rock Mortgage Corp.

The Hannah family bought the site for $11,000 in May 1971 from Pleasant Valley Inc.

Two recent Little Rock real estate transactions topped the $5 million mark.

• The Watkins Co., led by Richard Watkins, sold its namesake 162,970-SF printing facility at 11501 Otter Creek South Road for nearly $5.5 million.

Buyer: Indian Bayou Farms LLC, led by Stephanie Rae Smith.

• Ridgecrest LRAR LLC of Encino, California, acquired its namesake 222-unit apartment project at 1900-2000 Reservoir Road for more than $5.1 million.

The former Warren House Apartments and Warren Terrace Apartments were sold by Tri-5 LLC, an affiliate of Trinity Multifamily in Fort Smith.

More Big Deals
A townhome project in Maumelle, undeveloped land for a future upscale apartment project in North Little Rock and two Little Rock manors form a quartet of multimillion-dollar real estate transactions.

• AHBI Windsor Park LLC, led by James Kincannon, bought its namesake 72-unit townhome project at 2 Windsor Drive for $4.4 million.

Seller: Windsor Park Maumelle LLC, led by Hal Crafton.

• Arkopolis Properties LLC, led by Blake Jackson, purchased 39.5 acres along River Road east of Paul Duke Drive in North Little Rock for more than $1.7 million.

Jackson, managing partner of Maumelle’s Monde Group, reports that planning is in the early stages and the multifamily development could include some restaurant and other commercial components.

He indicated the apartments would be a resort community on par with The Villa at River Point Drive, a 216-unit project the Monde Group developed in Maumelle.

Seller? Pine Bluff Sand & Gravel Co., led by Brian McGeorge.

• Brad and Jodi Thomas acquired a 5,873-SF house in the Heights neighborhood for nearly $1.5 million from James and Brooks Klepper.

• Alfred and Brenda Herget bought a 7,086-SF home in west Little Rock’s Sologne Circle neighborhood for $1.2 million from Craig and Gretchen Farrell.

Jordan Alexandra Peterson just can’t let it go.

The 22-year-old who goes by Alex, if you’ve forgotten, is the daughter of Donna Herring, the Camden real estate agent who allegedly created a fake will so Peterson would inherit the assets of a survivor of the Deepwater Horizon explosion who later died in an auto accident.

The alleged scheme almost worked.

The purported will led to federal wire fraud charges against Herring, Peterson and Herring’s sister and brother-in-law, Marion “Diane” Kinley and John Wayne Kinley Jr.

All four defendants have pleaded not guilty, and their trial is set for Sept. 11.

After a hearing back in March, Ouachita County Circuit Court Judge Spencer Singleton threw out the will that named Peterson as the beneficiary of Matthew Seth Jacobs, who died in January 2015.

The judge’s ruling paved the way for Jacobs’ only child to receive his father’s estate, which was worth nearly $2 million because of the civil settlement in the Deepwater Horizon case.

Now Peterson wants the judge to reopen the case.

Peterson said in her motion for a new trial that she was never notified that the case would be heard on March 13. Had she known, she said, she would have appeared, according to an affidavit that she signed last month.

“Based upon communications with my former attorneys, I mistakenly believed that both this matter and a related civil matter had been stayed until the disposition of an ongoing criminal prosecution regarding the allegations” involving the fake will, Peterson said in affidavit.

She said that had she known about the court date, she would have hired her third attorney in the case and would have gone on to “fully defend my property interests.”

However, Peterson, who said she was engaged to Jacobs at the time of his death, didn’t say that the will was valid.

Her attorney, Jordan B. Tinsley of Little Rock, didn’t return several calls for comment. Attorney Adam D. Reid of Little Rock, who represents Jacobs’ son, Jordan Jacobs, said in his filing that Peterson’s request should be thrown out.

The court “provided sufficient notice” of the hearing to Peterson, Reid wrote.

“Ms. Peterson was responsible for keeping herself informed of the Estate proceedings and her failure to do so operates as a bar to her requested relief,” Reid said in his filing.

As of last week, Judge Singleton hadn’t ruled whether he will hold a hearing on Peterson’s request.

Arkansas Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Little Rock, with revenue doubling in the past five years to nearly $2.5 billion, has taken the top spot on Arkansas Business’ annual list of the state’s largest private companies.

As always, that comes with an asterisk: Stephens Inc., the ultra-private investment bank in Little Rock, dropped to No. 2 based on a revenue that continues to be estimated at $2.25 billion. It is the least reliable number on the list and one of only six that have been estimated.

The price of entry to the list increased to almost $117 million from $100 million last year.

ABCBS, a nonprofit that dominates the state’s health insurance landscape, was led from the beginning of 2009 through 2016 by Mark White, who retired at the end of the year. He was succeeded by Curtis Barnett, formerly senior vice president of external operations.

Barnett inherited a company that had $1.27 billion in revenue in 2011. The $2.5 billion it reported in 2016 is not a record for the list: Truman Arnold Cos., which is no longer eligible for the list after moving its executive offices to Dallas, topped $3 billion in 2011 when the price of its main product, aircraft fuel, was sky-high.

The 75 companies on the list generated total revenue, self-reported and estimated, of $37.5 billion, an increase of almost 10 percent from last year’s list. But more than half of that growth is attributable to the highest-ranking debut of any company in the 30-year history of the list: McLarty Automotive Group of Little Rock, led by Mark McLarty. It reported $1.76 billion in revenue in 2016 after having been formed in 2014 to acquire existing auto dealerships and open new ones. (See Dealership Acquisitions Fuel McLarty Automotive Group.)

In what may look like a sibling rivalry, MAG took the No. 4 spot from RML Automotive, which dropped to No. 5 despite revenue growth of almost 13 percent last year. RML was formerly known as RLJ McLarty Landers Automotive Holdings, and was co-founded in 2004 by Mark McLarty’s father and brother, Thomas “Mack” McLarty and Franklin McLarty, with Mark joining as a shareholder.

MAG is the only newcomer to the top 10, displacing Bruce Oakley Inc., the bulk transporter based in North Little Rock, which dropped from No. 7 to No. 12 on a 22 percent decrease in revenue.

Companies whose fortunes are tied to the agriculture industry saw revenue generally flat to lower in 2016, while those working in the health care industry — like ABCBS, Baptist Health (No. 8) and list newcomers Unity Health of Searcy (No. 17) and Central Arkansas Radiation Therapy Institute Inc. (No. 62) — saw revenue growth. (See $1.02 Billion Keeps Baptist Health High on List and Letter Reveals CARTI’s Plan for Improving Finances.)

Welcome Back
McLarty Automotive Group, Unity Health and CARTI are the only true newcomers among the 75 companies on this year’s list. All three should have been on last year’s list but were not surveyed.

Two more companies have returned after being dropped last year:

• No. 59 Parker Automotive Group of Little Rock, which last year submitted an incorrect revenue figure for 2015 that was too low to make the cutoff. It has been corrected.

• No. 74 Multi-Craft Contractors Inc. of Springdale, which entered the list at No. 75 in 2015 but didn’t make the cutoff last year. (See Springdale's Multi-Craft Contractors Stays Flexible, Diverse.)

Making Room
Five companies that were among last year’s 75 had to drop off to make room for the five additional names. They are last year’s Nos. 72-75 — Arkansas Valley Electric Cooperative of Ozark, Mid-South Sales Inc. of Jonesboro, Lewis Automotive Group of Fayetteville and Dyke Industries of Little Rock — as well as SF Holding Corp. of Little Rock, the holding company for joint investments of Warren Stephens and his cousins, Witt Stephens Jr. and Elizabeth Stephens Campbell. Since the Stephenses sold Stephens Media in February 2015 for $102.5 million, SF Holding’s revenue is no longer estimated to be large enough for the list.

Finales
Two companies are making their final appearances on the list: No. 35 Vestcom international Inc. of Little Rock and No. 41 Ridout Lumber Co. of Searcy. Vestcom, which produces the shelf-edge price labels for retailers like grocery stores, was acquired in December by out-of-state ownership, Charlesbank Capital Partners. Ridout, family owned since 1971, was sold in January to US LBM of Buffalo Grove, Illinois.

30th Annual List of Arkansas’ Largest Private Companies

LITTLE ROCK — Lawmakers in Washington have filed legislation that would expand the boundaries of the Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site.

The measure was filed Tuesday by U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton and U.S. Rep. French Hill, both Republicans from Arkansas, and U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont and U.S. Rep. John Lewis of Georgia. The legislation would add seven homes to Central High's national historic site, which is operated by the National Park Service.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the school's desegregation by black students known as the Little Rock Nine. Lewis, himself a civil rights icon, said the surrounding buildings "are part of a legacy of the Little Rock Nine" that should be preserved.

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Corrugated Specialties of Fort Smith, a manufacturer of corrugated boxes and specialty packaging items, announced on Tuesday that it is purchasing Century Corrugated Container Corp. of Kilgore, Texas.

This is the company's third acquisition in its 47-year history and first out-of-state acquisition. “Our product offerings are similar and we felt like the timing was right to add to our capacity,” said Chairman and CEO Paul Henson in a news release.

The Kilgore operation is an 86,000-SF plant with 12 employees and plans to add 40 full-time employees by the end of 2017.  It will continue serving the Shreveport, Dallas and Houston markets.

Corrugated Specialties has a 90,000-SF manufacturing and warehouse facility at 4700 Wheeler Ave. in Fort Smith and employs 60 people

The Ascend Hotel Collection by Choice Hotels International Inc. on Tuesday announced that The Waters at Hot Springs National Park would join its group of independent hotels and resorts.

The 62-room boutique hotel is located in the Hot Springs Central Avenue Historic District.

As part of the collection, it will participate in the Choice Privileges loyalty rewards program. Membership is free, and points can be redeemed for free nights, airline miles.

The hotel is owned by Bob Kempkes and Anthony Taylor, co-founders of the firm Taylor/Kempkes Architects of Hot Springs, and financial advisor Robert Zunick, also of Hot Springs.

(See Majestic Fire Prompts Splash of Hot Springs Development)

The Waters’ restaurant, The Avenue, is run by Le Cordon Bleu graduate and recent Arkansas Hospitality Association award winner Casey Copeland. The hotel also features Corinthian terracotta columns and a 1913 marble lobby that was once a doctor’s office that dispensed prescriptions for the therapeutic baths.

Other Choice Hotels hotel brands include Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Sleep Inn, Clarion, Cambria, MainStay Suites, Suburban Extended Stay Hotel, Econo Lodge and Rodeway, but those are not in the Ascend Hotel Collection.