A 74-bed assisted living center in west Little Rock weighed in at $14.07 million.

MHI Little Rock Ltd., an affiliate of Mainstreet Health Investments of Carmel, Indiana, bought the 43,988-SF Memory Care of Little Rock at Good Shepherd facility at 2501 Aldersgate Road.

The seller is MC-Little Rock AR-1 UT LLC, an affiliate of the Embree Group in Georgetown, Texas.

The 5.7-acre development previously was tied to a November 2014 mortgage of $9.5 million held by Metropolitan National Bank of Nashville, Tennessee.

The location was purchased for $745,000 in November 2014 from ERC Foundation Inc., led by Mark Davis.

CVS Transaction
A 13,536-SF CVS Pharmacy in southwest Little Rock changed hands in a $5.71 million sale.

Centennial Associates No. 1 LLC and Centennial Associates No. 2 LLC, both in Narberth, Pennsylvania, acquired the 8902 Geyer Springs Road project.

The seller is MC Little Rock AR Landlord LLC, an affiliate of SunTrust Equity Funding LLC of Atlanta.

The 2.31-acre development is backed with a $3.4 million loan from First Fidelity Bank of Oklahoma City. The location was assembled in three transactions totaling $2.08 million.

The sellers were the John Perry Trust, $880,000 in April 2015 for the Advantage Auto Parts store at 8902 Geyer Springs Road; APS Investment LLC, led by Avtar Momi and Satpal Kamboj, $800,000 in May 2015 for the Exxon Food Mart project at 6001 Baseline Road; and JV Holding Co., led by John Vice II, $400,000 in May 2015 for a 1.16-acre parcel.

Grill Acquisition
A 7,090-SF eatery in west Little Rock tipped the scales at $2.52 million. DB Triple Dipper Restaurant LLC, an affiliate of Fortress Investment Group of New York, purchased Romano’s Macaroni Grill at 11100 W. Markham St. from Centre Structured Trust 2 of New York.

The 2.64-acre development is helping secure a $70.4 million funding agreement with Wells Fargo Bank of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

The property previously helped secure a November 1997 mortgage of $10.5 million held by First Union National Bank of Charlotte, North Carolina.

The project was purchased for $2.01 million more than 19 years ago from Modernage Inc., an affiliate of Brinker International in Dallas.

Liquid Assets
A beverage project in Little Rock is under new ownership after a $1.65 million transaction.

Turner Holdings LLC, an affiliate of Hiland Dairy Co. of Springfield, Missouri, bought the 97,378-SF Shooting Star Beverages facility at 6921 Interstate 30 from the receiver for Clear Water Holdings LLC of Tulsa.

The 17.67-acre property helped secure mortgages totaling $13 million held by Simmons Bank of Pine Bluff.

Clear Water acquired the former Mountain Pure Water property as part of a $6 million foreclosure sale in October 2014. Simmons held a March 2014 foreclosure judgment of $16.7 million against Mount Pure.

The judgment was connected with a series of loans made by Little Rock’s Metropolitan National Bank and inherited by Simmons, which bought Metropolitan in a bankruptcy auction.

Warehouse Package
Warehouse property in south Little Rock rang up a $750,000 sale.

3200 Myers Street Partners LLC of Colton, California, purchased a 34,688-SF warehouse at 3015 Lewis St., a 30,360-SF warehouse at 3100 Elm St., a 9,500-SF warehouse at 4313 Asher Ave., a 6,500-SF warehouse at 4119 Asher Ave. and a 4,800-SF warehouse at 3013 Lewis St.

The seller is Moon Distributors Inc., led by Stan Hastings. The deal is financed with a three-year loan of $525,000 from Stone Bank of Mountain View.

The Hastings family assembled the properties in seven transactions with:

• The H.L. Remmel estate, $4,000 in September 1945 for the 1.22-acre 3100 Elm St. development, the 1.05-acre 3015 Lewis St. development and the 0.17-acre 3013 Lewis St. development.
• J.R. and Helen Rice, an undisclosed sum in August 1946 for the 0.16-acre development at 4119 Asher Ave.
• Marie Meyers Busch et al, $8,000 in November 1947 for the 0.31-acre development at 4313 Asher Ave. and a 0.57-acre property at the southeast corner of 31st and Cedar streets
• Fidelity Realty Co., led by E.J. Pope, $12,000 in March 1959 for a 1.16-acre property at the southeast corner of 31st and Cedar streets.
• Reva Moravec, Charlie and Beulah Henderson and Grady and Irene Hen-derson, $6,000 for a 0.32-acre parcel on Lewis Street.
• Alva L. Smith estate, $5,000 in August 1975 for a 0.17-acre parcel on Lewis Street.
• Verna Stinson, $4,000 in February 1997 for a 0.16-acre parcel near the southeast corner of Asher Avenue and Lewis Street.

Multifamily Sale I
Seven apartment buildings in North Little Rock drew a $600,000 transaction.

Johan and Juanita Adineh-Kharat acquired 33 units at 4905, 4909, 5001, 5005, 5009, 5101 and 5105 N. Walnut Road from Sharon Smith.

The deal is funded with a one-year loan of $1.3 million from First Arkansas Bank & Trust of Jacksonville.

The combined 1.94-acre property was assembled during July 1966 through July 1970 in seven transactions totaling more than $25,000 with Metropolitan Trust Co., led by Justin Matthews III.

Multifamily Sale II
A 24-unit apartment project and adjoining land in Little Rock sold for $435,000. Town Creek LLC, led by Randy Ferguson, bought the Mabelvale Apartments at 7414 Mabelvale Pike and a neighboring 1.2-acre parcel.

The seller is 133 LLC, led by Keith Jackson.

The combined 1.87-acre property previously was linked with a September 2011 mortgage of $467,500 held by BancorpSouth Bank of Tupelo, Mississippi.

The property was acquired for $550,000 in September 2011 from the Harold E. Tucker Irrevocable Trust.

Country Club Manor
A 5,012-SF home near the Country Club of Little Rock tipped the scales at $1.29 million.

Robert and Eliza Gaines purchased the house from Clark and Katherine Raborn. The deal is backed with a 30-year loan of $800,000 from IberiaBank of Lafayette, Louisiana.

The residence previously was tied to a May 2012 mortgage of $900,000 and May 2014 mortgage of $125,000 held by Quicken Loans Inc. of Detroit.

The property was bought for $360,000 in November 2006 from the Patrick R. Harding Revocable Trust.

Duclair Court
A 4,352-SF home in the Duclair Court neighborhood of west Little Rock’s Chenal Valley development changed hands in a $625,000 sale.

William and Mary Cavin acquired the house from the Suzanne Lindsay Bradshaw Revocable Trust.

The residence previously was linked with a June 2016 mortgage of $600,000 held by IberiaBank.

The property was purchased for $720,000 in May 2007 from Dr. Thomas Horn and Donald Levin.

Lamarche Abode
A 4,424-SF home in the Lamarche Place neighborhood of west Little Rock’s Chenal Valley development is under new ownership after a $530,000 transaction.

Steven and Ashley Smith bought the house from Phillip and Lauri Currier. The deal is funded with a 30-year loan of $424,000 from IberiaBank.

The residence previously was tied to a July 2006 mortgage of $370,000 held by Pulaski Mortgage Co. of Little Rock.

The location was acquired for $90,000 in April 2005 from Rangaswamy and Sabitha Govindarajan.

Seven-Digit Construction

Rodney Parham Storage Center    $2,200,000
9305 N. Rodney Parham Road, Little Rock
Rodney Parham Storage Center LLC, Fayetteville

Smitty’s Garage, a burger and beer restaurant, is looking to expand in Arkansas and it looks like Rogers will be the destination.

Smitty’s has 14 locations, primarily in Oklahoma. Smitty’s is a part of the Hal Smith Restaurants of Norman, Oklahoma, and has one Arkansas location in the Shoppes at Steele Crossing on Joyce Avenue in Fayetteville.

Founder Hal Smith recently formed Smitty’s Garage – Rogers AR LLC. Spokeswoman Debra Brantley said the company does indeed plan to expand in northwest Arkansas and would release specific information when the details were finalized.

“We definitely have plans to keep expanding,” Brantley said. “Smitty’s is doing great over there [in Fayetteville]. Smitty’s does great in college towns, or near college towns.”

A good bet for Smitty’s Rogers destination is the District Shops II retail center, a part of The District at Pinnacle Hills just south of Pauline Whitaker Parkway. The District is a 55-acre development project of Joe Whisenhunt’s Whisenhunt Investment Group of Little Rock.

Shops I, a 24,000-SF retail center, was recently completed and has active tenants such as Growler USA, Fuzzy’s Taco Shop, Kom Hot Yoga and Adella Nail Bar. Shops II, under construction, is a 16,000-SF center next door to the first shop.

Burke Larkin, who runs Whisenhunt’s Whisinvest Realty LLC in northwest Arkansas, would not comment on whether Smitty’s Garage was coming to Shops II. He did say that Carl Garrett, who owns Table Mesa Bistro in downtown Bentonville, was opening a new restaurant called Mirabella’s Table in a 5,500-SF space at one end of the complex.

Mirabella’s Table is scheduled to open this spring. Larkin did say the other end of the center had a 5,100-SF space for a restaurant, while the remaining space would be leased to retail stores.

A trio of west Little Rock properties have come together for this week’s multimillion-dollar transactions.

• Dave & Busters of Arkansas Inc. sold its project at 10900 Bass Pro Parkway for $8.1 million.

Buyer: National Retail Properties Ltd. of Orlando, Florida.

• PTCOA Shackleford Clinic LLC, led by Dr. Meraj Siddiqui and Dr. Ronald Tilley, purchased the 31,884-SF Nichols Furniture store at 108 N. Shackleford Road for $3 million.

Seller? Nichols Building LLC, led by John Nichols.

• FRP Cantrell Falls LLC, led by Dominic Flis, sold the 2,800-SF Burger King at 14916 Cantrell Road for $1.3 million.

Buyer? Sattler Investments LLC of Jonesboro.

CHICAGO — Global beef buyers will likely need to cobble together supplies from several nations if a scandal persists in Brazil's meat sector because supply constraints and politics are already limiting trade flows, market analysts said on Monday.

China suspended imports of all meat products from Brazil, the world's top beef exporter, as a precautionary measure after inspectors there were accused of taking bribes to allow sales of tainted food. South Korea, the EU and Chile also curtailed meat imports from Brazil.

Brazilian police on Friday named BRF SA and JBS SA, along with dozens of smaller rivals, in a two-year probe into how meat packers allegedly paid off the inspectors and politicians to overlook improper practices.

China, which the U.S. Department of Agriculture calls the world's fastest growing market for beef, accounted for nearly one-third of the Brazilian meat packing industry's $13.9 billion in exports last year.

Australia, Argentina and Canada could fill in the gap during the ban, said Mike Zuzolo, president of U.S. brokerage Global Commodity Analytics. However, each shipper faces its own challenges in the market.

Much of the beef exported from Brazil is grass-fed, putting it in direct competition with New Zealand and Australia. Australia, the world's second biggest exporter, is an unattractive replacement, though, because prices are high due to drought, said Derrell Peel, an agricultural economist at Oklahoma State University.

"They're under a production squeeze right now," he said.

And in Argentina, producers are still rebuilding their beef industry after trade controls imposed under its former left-leaning government hurt exports, traders said.

About 31 percent of China's beef imports came from Brazil in the first half of last year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Australia had about 19 percent of China's import market, while Argentina held about 8 percent.

China, whose beef cattle industry is still dominated by small backyard farms, has not bought beef from the United States since a scare over mad cow disease in 2003. Its new ban on Brazil's meat could accelerate talks to reopen trade, Peel said.

Cargill Ltd., one of the world's largest commodity trading houses, said it was too early to know how Brazil's scandal may impact U.S. beef exports. Tyson Foods Inc. of Springdale declined to comment.

Brazil's scandal could provide an overall beef price lift if it limits the pool of globally traded beef and forces buyers to lean more heavily on other suppliers, said Ron Davidson, spokesman for Canadian Meat Council, whose members include Cargill and JBS.

However, beef exported from Canada, the world's sixth-biggest shipper, is largely fed with grain, not grass.

"The Canadian product might look more competitive if the opportunity to import from Brazil is lessened," Davidson said.

WASHINGTON — More people sought U.S. unemployment benefits last week, but applications are still at a low level that points to a healthy job market.

THE NUMBERS: Weekly unemployment benefit applications rose 15,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 258,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. The four-week average ticked up 1,000 to 240,000.

The number of people receiving benefits fell 39,000 to 2 million, the department said. That's down 8.6 percent from a year earlier.

THE TAKEAWAY: Applications, which are a proxy for layoffs, have been below 300,000, a historically low level, for 80 weeks. The figure had topped 100 weeks but the Labor Department revised the data Thursday.

The figures suggest that relatively few Americans are losing their jobs. In late February, applications fell to 210,000, the lowest since 1969, according to the revised data.

Many businesses complain they are having trouble finding qualified workers to hire for their open jobs, which probably makes layoffs less likely.

KEY DRIVERS: Hiring has been healthy since the beginning of the year, pushing the unemployment rate down a bit.

Employers added an average of 236,500 jobs in January and February, up from a monthly average of about 180,000 last year. The unemployment rate ticked down to 4.7 percent in February from 4.8 percent.

Businesses and consumers have been more optimistic since the November elections, but it's not clear if that has translated into more shopping and business investment. Economists at Bank of America Merrill Lynch point out that much of the increase in optimism has occurred among older, middle-income Americans, yet middle-aged, wealthier people drive more spending.

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

A Texas investor paid nearly $3.7 million for the Red Lobster restaurant on North Shiloh Drive in Fayetteville.

Vera LLC of Plano, led by Venkat Sirimalle, bought the property from Cole REIT Advisors III, a subsidiary of Cole Capital of Phoenix. Cole, which owns more than 500 Red Lobsters, acquired the property in 2014 for almost $2.7 million.

Vera and Red Lobster Restaurants LLC, based in Orlando, Florida, signed a lease agreement that runs until 2039. The previous lease was listed at more than $220,000 annually before the sale.

The 7,800-SF restaurant is just south of Joyce Boulevard and sits on approximately 1.75 acres.

Adams Dairy Bank of Blue Springs, Missouri, assisted the purchase with a loan of slightly more than $2.7 million.

Highway 112 Land
A local investor paid more than $2.1 million for nearly 39.5 acres of land on Highway 112 in Fayetteville.

One Twelve Village LLC of Fayetteville, led by David Evans, bought the land just north of the Sam’s Club. The property is across the highway from the 112 Drive In theater.

Legacy National Bank of Springdale was the seller. Legacy acquired the property for satisfaction of debt in 2010 from Family Jewels LLC, led by Tracy Hoskins.

At the Pines
A 25-unit Fayetteville apartment complex sold for $865,000.

Garton Holdings LLC of Fayetteville, led by Jason Garton and Travis Garton, bought the At the Pines complex. First Security Bank of Searcy assisted the purchase with a loan of $1.05 million.

The sellers were a group of three trusts. The William Stewart & Nancy Stewart Revocable Trust sold its 50 percent share; the other half was equally held by the George Faucette Jr. Revocable Trust and the Rosemary Faucette Revocable Trust.

The complex sits on 1 acre on West Deane Street.

Sagely Lane Home
A 3,811-SF home in east Fayetteville sold for $499,000.

Rose Property Group LLC, led by David Frye of Rausch Coleman Homes, bought the residence on Sagely Lane from John Ed Chambers III of Danville, the CEO of Chambers Bank. Chambers bought the property as land in 2012.

Chambers Bank assisted the purchase with a loan of $387,500.

Chambers also sold a 1.14-acre plot in Fayetteville to Trends Inc. for $100,000. Trends Inc. has the same mailing address as Rose Property Group on North Plainview Avenue in Fayetteville.

The 1.14 acres is just behind the Whole Foods Market-anchored retail center on North Plainview Avenue.

Lafite Lane Home
A 4,637-SF home in east Fayetteville sold for $759,000.

James Scott and Adele Ruth Coleman bought the residence on Lafite Lane from Serrhel and Patty Adams. The four-bedroom home sits on more than 2 acres.

Arvest Bank of Rogers assisted the purchase with a loan of $607,000. Serrhel Adams acquired the residence for $648,000 in 2009.

Fayetteville Apartments
A six-unit apartment complex in Fayetteville sold for $307,000.

Cajakajo Holdings LLC of Fayetteville, led by Buckley Blew and Kimberly Blew, bought the property at 10 E. Davidson St. The sellers were Charles and Yvonne Bennett of Havana (Yell County).

First National Bank of Fayetteville assisted the purchase with a loan of $260,950.

Farmington Dentist Office
A dental and orthodontist office in Farmington sold for $465,000.

FDO Properties, led by Gavin Trogdon, bought the 3,030-SF building that is home to the Farmington Dental Center at 181 Main St. Trogdon owns the dentist practice there.

J&J Long LLC of Forest Grove, Oregon, led by Jerred Long, was the seller.

Arvest Bank of Rogers assisted the purchase with a loan of $465,000.

Churchill Drive Home
A four-bedroom, 4,070-SF home in Fayetteville sold for $535,000.

Gareth and Cheryl Eck bought the property on East Churchill Drive. They bought the residence from Stephen and Lorene Gordon of Fayetteville.

The fire that destroyed the historic Majestic Hotel in Hot Springs three years ago helped prompt a wave of development in the downtown district.

After the fire that burned much of the vacant Majestic, which had anchored the north end of Central Avenue, a pile of bricks littered the sidewalk. Getting the site cleaned up was difficult because some asbestos-containing building materials were among the debris.

City officials, civic groups and others gathered and developed a plan to improve downtown. The meetings resulted in several recommendations, including strengthening building codes and creating a downtown development director position.

“The Majestic fire struck an emotional chord with a lot of investors and developers who were either on the fence about downtown or weren’t even considering downtown,” said Cole McCaskill, downtown development director for the Hot Springs Metro Partnership.

Since McCaskill was hired in the summer of 2014, downtown development has seen a flurry of activity, including more than $22.3 million worth of commercial property purchased. The most expensive transaction occurred in October 2015 when GRGCBHS LLC, led by Gary R. Gibbs of Brentwood, Tennessee, bought the Austin Hotel at 305 Malvern from Spa Lodging Inc. for $10.15 million. It was renovated and renamed The Hotel Hot Springs & Spa.

“There’s been a new energy in the city,” said Steve Arrison, CEO of the Hot Springs Convention & Visitors Bureau. “Hot Springs has been a resort community and the No. 1 tourism destination in Arkansas forever. And it just continues to recreate itself. The old is still there, but we’re adding some great new to it.”

The city of Hot Springs also stepped in. It bought the Majestic Hotel in August 2015 for $673,000 from Gary Hassenflu of Park Properties LLC in Kansas City, after he failed to clean up the property. The site has been cleared and is awaiting final environmental approval before the location is redeveloped.

The city will ask for recommendations for what to put at the site, McCaskill said.

Some are pushing for the site to showcase the thermal water at the location. The Majestic had thermal water pumped in from Hot Springs National Park two blocks away, McCaskill said. “That would probably be the best use of that site, … so people could experience it,” he said.

A decision is expected by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, Hot Springs developer Jason Taylor has several projects under development in downtown. He said he was motivated to invest in the area to improve entertainment options. “People come down here, they walk Bathhouse Row, they spend some time here,” he said, “and then they leave.”

He wants to change that. Next month in his seven-story Citizens Building at 723 Central, a restaurant will open on the first floor and a jazz club will be on the second. The remaining floors will be condominiums.

“Downtown is hopping,” Taylor said. “Downtown is starting to really, really come back and be re-energized.”

The following are some of the top projects in downtown Hot Springs:

The Hotel Hot Springs & Spa
305 Malvern Ave.

Price: $10.15 million

Size: 134,230 SF, 14 floors

Date Purchased: October 2015

Shortly after Gary R. Gibbs bought the Austin Hotel at 305 Malvern Ave. for $10.15 million in October 2015, it was closed for renovation. Built in 1986, the 14-story building was “100 percent” renovated at a cost of about $10 million, said Carlos Sibole, the general manager of the hotel, which was renamed The Hotel Hot Springs & Spa.

The 200-room hotel reopened on April 1, 2016. The hotel, which is connected to the Hot Springs Convention Center, is adding a 5,000-SF spa with thermal waters, pool and fitness facilities, Sibole said. It is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

The rooms feature vinyl plank flooring instead of carpets and 49-inch television sets. The architect on the project was Douglas A. Arnold & Associates PLC of Hot Springs, and the construction was handled by CPI Construction LLC, which also is owned by Gibbs.

The Waters
340 Central Ave.

Price: $1.25 million

Size: 60,000 SF, five floors

Date Purchased: June 2014

Built in 1913 and formerly known as the Thompson Building, The Waters has a facade that “creatively blends classic elements with a bold, storefront design echoing the rhythms of the 1920s,” according to a February news release from the hotel that announced its opening.

One of its owners, Bob Kempkes, a founder of the firm Taylor/Kempkes Architects of Hot Springs, said he and the other owners, Anthony Taylor, who is also a founder of the firm, and Robert Zunick, a financial adviser in Hot Springs, had always been interested in the building, which once was home to doctors’ offices. When it became available for sale, the three men were interested. They studied the hotel market in Hot Springs and found more hotels were needed, especially those that had a “higher level of service that you see in a boutique property,” Kempkes said.

He said a complete renovation was done to the building, bringing the total cost of the project to about $7 million. It now has 62 rooms. It also has a Southern artisan-style restaurant on the ground floor, called The Avenue.

Bank of America Building
528 Central Ave.

Price: $1.25 million

Size: 43,000 SF, six floors

Date Purchased: April 2016

Rustic Development LLC, led by Hot Springs developer Jason Taylor, bought the building because it’s one of only a few places downtown that has a patio for customers to sit and eat or drink, Taylor said. The space also can be used for live music “and things of that nature,” he said.

The craft brewery, Bubba Brew’s Brewing Co. of Bonnerdale (Hot Spring County), has signed a lease and is expected to move into the building by the middle of the summer, Taylor said. The restaurant will be done in “an old English, library style,” he said.

The building was built in 1972 and was modeled after the Federal Bureau of Investigation Headquarters in Washington. The Bank of America building “has got big concrete pillars and columns going up all the way to the top,” Taylor said.

Taylor said he doesn’t have plans for what will go on the remaining floors. “But we’re open for discussion,” he said. The architect on the project was Twin Rivers Architecture PA of Arkadelphia. Taylor is the general contractor.

Citizens Building
723 Central Ave.

Price: $1.1 Million

Size: 24,700 SF, seven floors

Date Purchased: July 2015

The building at Central Avenue and Bridge Street has been empty since 1978, said Taylor, who is an owner and developer of the project.

Taylor was attracted to the building, built in 1909, because of its proximity to the Hot Springs Convention Center. “It’s kind of the gateway to downtown as you come around the corner there on Central Avenue,” he said.

On the first floor of the seven-story building will be a restaurant named the Vault, featuring a wood-fired grill. On the second floor will be a jazz club, Lagoria Rhythm & Rock’s Jazz Bistro. Both are expected to open in April, Taylor said.

The remaining floors will be condominiums, ranging in price from $200,000 to $1 million. The sizes of the units are 840 SF to 2,400 SF. In October, a unit on the fourth floor sold for $275,000 to Dal and Chris Strawn.

The architect on the project was Harris Architecture Co. of Hot Springs. Taylor said he was the general contractor for the project.

812 Central Ave.

Price: $575,000

Size: 16,700 SF, two floors

Date Purchased: February 2016

Taylor, whose Rustic Development bought the building, said he plans to put a sports bar type of restaurant on the first floor of the building, which was built in 1903 and features 18-foot ceilings and interior brick. It also has about 4,500 SF of mezzanine space.

Twin Rivers Architecture was the architect. Taylor is the general contractor.

Taylor said he didn’t have a timeline for when that project will be completed. “We want to bring a lot of energy to downtown Hot Springs,” he said.

Commercial projects topping $21 million are beginning to come out of the ground at Little Rock’s Gateway Town Center.

Construction of the $3 million Creek Plaza is expected to begin in early April. Work on the 14,500-SF retail project will join building activity on two neighboring developments: the $9.8 million Movie Tavern and $9 million Tru by Hilton Hotel.

Creek Plaza will become home to the first Con Quesos outside of northwest Arkansas.The Fayetteville fast-casual fusion taco restaurant, also known for its specialty cheese dips, will occupy 3,000 SF. A T-Mobile store is listed as a “potential tenant” of 3,000 SF.

Creek Plaza, Movie Tavern and the Tru hotel project will occupy a 12-acre piece of the west side of the Gateway Town Center.

“That’s really been the focus,” said Isaac Smith, principal and executive vice president at the Little Rock office of Colliers International.

“We’ve had a ton of people interested.”

The property is envisioned to be part of an entertainment district dubbed The Grove at Gateway Town Center.

Helping expand the entertainment destination draw is an 11-screen, 46,000-SF Movie Tavern, which follows development of the nearby Dave & Buster’s that opened last summer.

“We’re fully mobilized,” said Derek Alley, managing director of Little Rock’s VCC general contracting firm. “This is our first project with Movie Tavern, and their first project in Arkansas.”

An affiliate of EPR Properties, a publicly traded real estate investment trust based in Kansas City, Missouri, bought the 6.45-acre Movie Tavern site for nearly $1.7 million.

The project, which will join EPR’s $1.9 billion in megaplex investments, is expected to open in time for the Thanksgiving-Christmas holidays.

North of the Movie Tavern site, 2 acres are on the drawing board to become green space along a pond.

“The key is making it more than concrete and hardscape,” Smith said of the overall development.

The 82-room Tru hotel project, the first in Arkansas, could be opened by the end of the year or in early 2018.

“We’re in permitting, waiting to tee things up with financing and begin construction,” said Chet Patel, president of Little Rock’s Pinnacle Hotel Group.

The 1.78-acre site was acquired for $755,983. The project will join Pinnacle’s portfolio of 11 properties that are open or under construction: 10 in Arkansas and one in Texas.

“I expect more hotels here pretty quick,” said Tommy Hodges, who led development of the Gateway Town Center. “I had a call from a guy who wanted 5 acres for a 100,000-SF user. But he wouldn’t tell me who it was.

“We’re not going to negotiate if we don’t know who we’re dealing with. We’re picky about who we sell to.”

Town Center LLC, an investment group led by Hodges, sold an 89.3 percent stake in two undeveloped tracts at the project totaling 54.7 acres for more than $10.4 million.

The new majority owners of the land are two Colliers-led investment groups: Gateway Otter LLC and Gateway Creek LLC.

“That was really my doing,” Hodges said. “I’m 74 years old, and I was doing it by myself. I felt like I didn’t need to be working this hard. It needed more bodies and younger people to come in.

“It was good for them and good for me. This thing requires a lot of energy. I couldn’t be more pleased with partners than those guys. They have the wherewithal to get it done.”

Taking Care

The recent projects follow the completion of two pivotal pieces of the Gateway Town Center development: the 2015 opening of The Outlets of Little Rock, a 325,000-SF retail destination launched by a $5.2 million purchase of 30 acres; and the 2013 opening of the 104,359-SF Bass Pro Shops that began with a $3 million buy of 29.3 acres.

The change in ownership composition at Gateway hasn’t altered a mindset that Hodges brought to the project: Avoid a sell-all-you-can-as-fast-as-you-can mentality.

“The thing we have to be careful with is not screwing it up,” Hodges said. “We have an opportunity to get some 24-hour living out there with apartments. We have an opportunity to do some office, and I haven’t focused on that.

“We have to be careful where we do that and how we do that. Every time we make a sale, there’s a ripple effect on the development.

“In the back of mind, I’m saying, ‘What next?’ We don’t want people to come in here and not be successful.”

Highland Pellets founder Tom Reilley’s first impression of downtown Pine Bluff three years ago was an indelible sight: a tree growing through the roof of a dilapidated grand hotel.

The tree was a pine; the building was the Hotel Pines.

“It made a big impression on me, coming into the area with fresh eyes,” Reilley said in a telephone interview last week. ”

In a different apocalyptic vision, economic developer Lou Ann Nisbett suggested that some buildings downtown could be scenes for “The Walking Dead,” AMC’s zombie series. She enlisted Christopher Crane, film commissioner of the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, to offer up 19 structurally unsound Pine Bluff buildings as possible locations for filming thrillers. If the script called for an explosion, the filmmakers could blow up the buildings.

“Chris actually visited, took some pictures and did some inventory,” Nisbett said. “I was trying to come up with creative ways to get buildings down without heavy costs to the owners or the city.”

Such is the state of economically battered Pine Bluff, but Nisbett and Reilley are anything but despairing.

Nisbett, the president and CEO of Jefferson County’s Economic Development Alliance, and Reilley, the New Hampshire resident who decided to put a $230 million wood pellet plant in Pine Bluff, have joined a growing army on a mission of revitalization.

Reilley’s zeal goes beyond providing jobs and economic stimulus through his new plant, which will deliver wood pellets to fuel European power plants as a substitute for coal. The facility, in Jefferson Industrial Park, has one production line running and three more are under construction.

Reilley is determined to inspire people to build up residents, property values and the tax base of Pine Bluff, a manufacturing city that once had close to 60,000 residents but had dwindled to about 45,000 by 2015, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

So he joined the board of a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit group to investigate restoring the Hotel Pines as it works to revamp downtown and all of Pine Bluff, which he sees as poised for a rebound.

The nonprofit, Pine Bluff Rising, bought the six-story, 100,000-SF hotel for one dollar on Jan. 17 and has committed $300,000 to shoring it up, drying it out and seeing if it can be saved. The seller, Elvin Moon, who worked at the storied hotel as an elevator operator as a teenager, bought the property in 2003 from another nonprofit group, Citizens to Save the Pines, which had acquired it after it was condemned by the city in 1986.

Moon was among a number of property speculators who snapped up unused Pine Bluff buildings at depressed prices starting in the recessions of the 1980s and ’90s.

“Individuals bought buildings, I guess from a speculation standpoint since they were so cheap, hoping to sell them for a profit someday,” said Caleb McMahon, economic development director for the Jefferson County Alliance and a Pine Bluff Rising board member. “But with no repairs, the buildings became decrepit and started falling. The property speculation only decreased property values downtown.”

The purchase of the Hotel Pines, opened in 1913 and designed by Arkansas State Capitol architect George R. Mann, is part of a larger revitalization plan devised by Go Forward Pine Bluff. Go Forward, a 100-volunteer group financed by one of Pine Bluff’s most successful businesses, Simmons First National Corp., and led by former CEO Tommy May and Simmons First Foundation board member Mary Pringos, has announced an ambitious plan of 27 proposals.

The plan hinges on a public vote for a five-eighths-cent city sales tax that would raise some $32 million before lapsing after seven years. About $20 million more is planned via private fundraising. If the Pine Bluff City Council gives its approval on April 3, the election will be held June 13.

Jefferson County already has a three-eighths-cent tax for economic development, money that has paid dividends in recent years with groundbreakings and expansions at the industrial park, including Highland Pellets and the recruitment of industries from South Korea, Austria and Argentina.

Carla Martin, vice chancellor for finance and administration at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and a Go Forward leader, said the new tax could burden some residents, but she noted that the levy is temporary and that it is expected to have a household impact of $15 a month, or $180 a year.

“I am confident that the citizens of Pine Bluff want a better tomorrow,” she said. “I am confident that we must have some skin in the game.”

Pringos said that if the tax vote succeeds, all of the spending would require City Council approval and would be “pay as you go, with no bond issue.” Pine Bluff Mayor Shirley Washington, she said, has “overwhelmingly endorsed” the program and was one of its 100 volunteers.

Several attempts to reach Washington for this article were unsuccessful.

The Hotel Pines
One of Go Forward’s recommendations, along with a complete overhaul of city codes and enforcement, is to repurpose or demolish the Hotel Pines.

Opened in the golden age of passenger rail just a few blocks from Pine Bluff’s Union Station, it attracted travelers seeking the elegance of one of Arkansas’ premier hotels. When passenger rail service ended in 1968, the death knell sounded for the hotel, which closed in 1970.

The now-crumbling two-story lobby and second-floor balcony were built with a grand curved ceiling of stained glass, a treasure long feared lost. McMahon recently discovered otherwise.

“Mr. Moon told us that he still had all the stained glass; he took us to where he had it warehoused, and we have it now.”

The first step is testing the building and getting a cost assessment.

A $35 million renovation might be workable, through use of state and federal historic tax credits, bank lending and “equity contributions from various sources,” Reilley said. However, if the price tag balloons to more than $35 million, demolition is likely.

Pine Bluff Rising has engaged WER Architects/Planners of Little Rock; East Harding Construction, which is using local contractors; and interior designer Kaki Hockersmith. Hockersmith, of Little Rock, redid the White House for the Clinton administration.

Engineers are making a complete assessment expected in about 60 days. “It’s due diligence, but also an emotional issue,” Reilley said. “If it can be saved, we want to save it.”

Reilley, a Bear Stearns senior managing director in London before his own international projects gave him a glimpse of impoverished areas worldwide, has been brainstorming on the hotel’s future. Many of the ideas are nascent.

“A leading and respected Arkansas hotel operator would love to do a joint venture on Hotel Pines,” he said, adding that UAPB might be “incredibly synergistic” with the project.

UAPB Chancellor Laurence Alexander called talk of any link with the hotel premature. “But if it rises above a whisper, I’ll have some thoughts for sure.”

McMahon said restoring the hotel, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979, to its former glory wouldn’t mean forgoing new uses. It was conceived as “a 110-room hotel. But we would like retail downstairs, banquet galleries and the like.”

The work includes pumping out the basement, shoring up four columns, boarding up broken windows and fixing the leaky roof. “We have to do all that just to dry it out,” Reilley said. “Soon we’ll know if the hotel can be saved or if it has to go.”

Reversing the Deterioration
Either option beats simply letting it deteriorate, officials said.

That was the case a few blocks away at 620 Main St., where the former Sahara Temple building, owned by Garland Trice, has suffered multiple collapses. In July 2014, risks of falling debris led the city to shut down Main Street between Sixth and Eighth avenues. The stretch is still closed, much to the inconvenience of neighboring businesses like Pine Bluff Title Co. and Davis Auto Parts.

“The proof is in the pudding out there,” parts store owner Bobby Davis told the Pine Bluff Commercial in January. “People can’t come in. They get to the barricade on either end, and they turn around and go somewhere else.”

A free-standing wall of the condemned building toppled that month onto the building next door, an accounting business owned by Lloyd F. Lee.

“It’s distressing,” McMahon said. “Main Street is shut off because we have bricks falling in the street. That being said, we want to save all the buildings we can.”

That’s where Pine Bluff Rising and Go Forward come in.

“When the directors and I started talking about funding Pine Bluff Rising, I said let’s contribute our capital and time in a meaningful way, and work on some of the most intractable problems in the area,” said Reilley, whose fellow nonprofit board members are William Carpenter, McMahon and UAPB professor Ryan Watley.

One problem is the image and reality of downtown.

“On this part of Main Street [near the Hotel Pines], I’d say 90 percent of the buildings are unoccupied,” McMahon said. “That’s why one major goal is to grow downtown.” Reilley and McMahon said a well-known Arkansas business may soon announce plans for a downtown destination, part of a project that is also wooing a Little Rock restaurateur. “We could have an announcement in two or three weeks,” Reilley said.

Reilley has partnered with Win Trafford, a City Council member and real estate broker, to acquire the historic Greystone residence near Jefferson Regional Medical Center with the goal of turning it into a high-end bed-and-breakfast.

“It’s a beautiful building that has fallen into disrepair,” Reilley said. “We hired Kaki Hockersmith to do all the interior design work, and it should be ready to open in six to nine months.”

Go Forward’s main priority is “increasing the tax base for the city of Pine Bluff,” Pringos told Arkansas Business. “Declines in population and businesses have left the city in a difficult position even providing basic services. We have to attack certain issues to reverse that trend.”

‘Starving at the Banquet’
Reilley hopes that Pine Bluff Rising can improve the city’s image through a social media campaign, but he says the area has the essentials to bounce back.

“The town is really starving at the banquet,” Reilley said. “I understand problems like the mechanization of the Delta and job losses associated with that, but Pine Bluff has a good two-year school in SEARK [Southeast Arkansas College], a four-year university in UAPB, a good airport, a great industrial park and an excellent river port. All it’s missing is a transactional plan.

“Mayor Washington has shown great leadership, and courageous work is being done by Tommy May and Go Forward. Community leaders like George Makris at Simmons Bank, Chancellor Alexander at UAPB and Lou Ann Nisbett, to name a few, are leading by example.” But like a team on a losing streak, Pine Bluff “needs some wins” to get people off the bench, he said.

A couple of victories are already in the books. Pine Bluff passed a property tax increase in November to finance a new $14 million library. The 35,000-SF building is expected to rise soon at Main Street and Sixth Avenue.

Funding for a $6.3 million aquatic center was also secured when Stephens Inc. accountants found a way to fully finance the project by restructuring existing city bonds. More than $4 million for the center had been raised through a sales tax levy, but the Stephens tactic overcame a $2 million shortfall. The site is 10th Avenue and Convention Center Drive, opposite the Pine Bluff Civic Center complex.

If voters approve the Go Forward levy, Pine Bluff residents will face a steep 11 percent sales tax on retail purchases other than groceries, but officials say local businesses and workers will benefit when the $52 million fund it contributes to starts flowing. Pine Bluff Rising, for example, is establishing an alliance of Jefferson County subcontractors to compete for millions of dollars in building and demolition work.

Watley is working with East Harding CEO Van Tilbury and Michael Smith, vice president of preconstruction and project management at Con-Real Construction, to urge “minority businesses and contractors who need additional skill, capital, bonding ability or general bidding skills to come together in advance of all the work that Go Forward and Pine Bluff Rising will generate,” Reilley said.

Go Forward’s blueprint calls for creating a downtown square with “city-purposed programs,” the creation of a Delta Festival, Delta sports tournaments and “one or more nice restaurants.”

Restoration efforts would focus on buildings like the Masonic Temple, the Train Depot Museum and the Saenger Theatre, where Harry Houdini and Roy Rogers performed.

Education plans from Go Forward include an Educational Alliance among the city’s three school districts to focus on joint teaching arrangements for science, technology, engineering and mathematics courses, as well as an Innovation Hub in the Arts & Science Center Annex, envisioned as a partnership between SEARK and UAPB.

Go Forward’s efforts are divided into four pillars, each served by committees. They are economic development, chaired by Nick Makris; education, led by Scott Patillo; infrastructure and government, headed by Rosalind Mouser; and quality of life, chaired by Kaleybra Morehead.

“Bringing jobs, addressing blight, bringing in more things to do, all of those issues were seen in our surveys and focus groups,” Pringos said.

Martin boiled down the goals. “Clean up the city, grow the economy, create a more-skilled workforce, offer safer neighborhoods. Make this a place people want to live, work and raise a family. Ultimately we want to make Pine Bluff a city its residents are proud to call home.”

The sales of an 8,876-SF manor near Roland, 9,364-SF office-eatery project in Maumelle, a 29,800-SF warehouse complex in Little Rock and an 11,125-SF office complex in west Little Rock each topped the million-dollar mark.

• Rodney and Amber McCarver bought the Waterview Estates residence from Gregory and Brittany Wood for $1.7 million.

• Anchor Realty Investments LLC, led by Alan Bubbus, sold the David’s Burgers at 102 Country Club Parkway in Maumelle for $1.4 million.

Buyer: Atkinson Properties LLC, led by Russell and Ric Atkinson.

• An affiliate of the Store Capital real estate investment trust in Scottsdale, Arizona, purchased the Arkansas Wholesale Lumber Co. project at 3801 Mabelvale Pike for $1.3 million.

Seller: Wayne & Robby L. Ridout Family LLLP.

• Malmstrom Family Ltd. Co. LLC, led by Patrick Malmstrom, sold the 11,125-SF office complex at 11617-21 Kanis Road for $1.1 million.

Buyer? Buckstaff Kanis Holdings LLC, led by Doug Malmstrom.

The dispute involving the children of Homer’s Restaurant founder Homer Connell has escalated, with allegations that Katrina Connell Vaughn, trustee of two family trusts, misappropriated money and used her brother’s credit card for plastic surgery, “life coaching” and a psychic hotline.

If you’ll remember, Vaughn filed suit in November against her two brothers, Robert Connell and David Connell; Robert Connell’s wife, Alicia Ford Connell; and DC Group Inc., which operates Homer’s West Restaurant in west Little Rock.

The three siblings are the children of Homer Connell, who opened the original Homer’s Restaurant, at 2001 E. Roosevelt Road, in 1986, and his widow, Remedios or “Remy.” Homer Connell died June 17 at age 73.

Vaughn’s lawsuit, filed in Pulaski County Circuit Court, described her disagreements with her brothers as “an unfortunate family dispute in which two elderly parents — a mother who has long been incapacitated and a father who is recently deceased — have been taken advantage of by certain family members in an effort to improperly assert control over their finances and property.”

Vaughn’s suit asks the court “to stop the misappropriation and diversion of assets” and re-establish Vaughn as trustee of her parents’ trusts and the person in charge of finances and health care for her mother, who is in a nursing home.

The lawsuit also says that the brothers are excluding Vaughn from her rightful role in running the original restaurant, sometimes called Homer’s East, and in receiving a share of profits from Homer’s West, at 9700 N. Rodney Parham Road.

In response, her brother David has denied Vaughn’s claims and lobbed some claims of his own.

David Connell’s answer and counterclaim says his sister has failed to fulfill her fiduciary duties as trustee, adding that Vaughn is unemployed and has used proceeds from the sale of their parents’ and an estate sale for her “own benefit, thereby breaching her duty to refrain from self-dealing.”

Connell further alleges that Vaughn has “a personal vendetta” against him and their brother and sister-in-law, Robert and Alicia, and that Vaughn “has conveyed open hostilities” toward him and has failed to provide financial accountings.

“Rather, Plaintiff chose instead to file the Complaint alleging that Counterclaimant, Alicia and Robert have misappropriated funds from Homer’s East without any proof or substantiation therefor.”

Life Coaching & Psychics
As to Vaughn’s allegation that her brothers and sister-in-law misappropriated money from Homer’s East and made unauthorized charges on the company credit card?

David Connell says he hasn’t worked at Homer’s East since December 2010, Robert Connell hasn’t worked there in at least a decade, and Alicia Connell “has provided Plaintiff with all financial documents relating to Homer’s East since Plaintiff was fired, none of which reflect any misappropriation.”

On the contrary, David Connell says their father fired Vaughn in December 2015 “due to the fact that he found that Plaintiff was misappropriating funds.”

Connell says Homer Connell then hired Dorsey & Co., a Little Rock accounting firm, to examine the restaurant’s finances, provide payroll services and prepare its tax filings. Dorsey & Co. found $39,750 in unauthorized transfers from the restaurant’s checking account to Vaughn’s personal account, David Connell says.

In addition, Connell’s filing says, “because Plaintiff was so ill-equipped at handling the finances of Homer’s East, the Company Checking Account was debited $1,479 in 2013 and $2,312 in 2014 for insufficient fund charges.”

Connell says that after he left Homer’s East to establish Homer’s West, he forgot to cancel a credit card that was used for purchases at Homer’s East. Vaughn charged more than $35,000 in personal expenses to that card without his consent or knowledge, he alleges.

Among those expenses, for which he provided copies of his credit card statements:

• $7,685 to “’PSI Ed Love,’ who is a local plastic surgeon. Plaintiff has admitted to Counterclaimant that this charge was for Plaintiff’s plastic surgery.”
• $3,852.51 to Master Coaches of Clearwater, Florida, “a company specializing in providing life coaching therapy.”
• $1,496.23 to “a company called TRIAD37JLLC-ASKNOW, which is a psychic hotline.”

Connell goes on to allege that his sister was in charge of filing taxes for Homer’s East from 2011-15, but that the IRS placed a $54,802.96 lien on the restaurant in 2016 because of taxes owed for 2011-13.

Connell asks the court to remove Vaughn as trustee of the family trusts and to appoint an independent corporate trustee. He also seeks damages to be determined at trial and attorneys’ fees.

For her part, Vaughn denies her brother’s assertions and says that the credit card statements — including those listing payments to PSI Ed Love, Master Coaches and ASKNOW — “speak for themselves and she denies Defendant’s characterization of same.”

Commercial development is thriving in Conway, evidenced by the nearly complete $65 million Lewis Crossing shopping center and plans for a startup space the city hopes will attract new and existing companies.

Both are part of the city’s continuing transformation into a commercial hub distinct from Little Rock, though they share a metropolitan statistical area.

“In spite of a difficult national retail climate, Conway has continued to show growth with record retail sales of $1.45 billion for 2016,” Brad Lacy, CEO of the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce, said in an email to Arkansas Business. “With the opening of Sam’s Club in January, we anticipate that number to grow as we solidify our place as a regional shopping destination.”

Lacy also lauded Conway’s success in retail development. Sam’s Club, at 136,580 SF, is the main anchor of Lewis Crossing.

“This growth will only build the case for other retailers to invest in our market,” Lacy said. “With a great mix of locally owned, specialty stores and restaurants and well-known national brands, we consistently hear that our residents are not traveling out of town to shop and more visitors are choosing Conway.”

The 441,871-SF Lewis Crossing is at the southeast corner of Interstate 40 and Dave Ward Drive; just south of another top development, Lewis Ranch. Shoppes at Central Landing is north of both and on the other side of Interstate 40.

Lewis Ranch LLC moved dirt last week for a new road it is building to connect its 50-acre development to Lewis Crossing and Conway Commons, said Operations Analyst Audie Alumbaugh. Conway Commons is the 600,000-SF shopping center near I-40 off of Exit 127.

“Our goal is to have a defined retail corridor starting around Conway Farm & Home on Amity and going all the way through the Sam’s development, through Lewis Ranch and up through Conway Commons, where the Target, the Home Depot, all that is,” she said.

The property owner, Bill Lewis of Conway, is investing $5 million in the road and other infrastructure features, Alumbaugh said. The new Amity Road will go north of Crain Buick GMC, then through Lewis Ranch to the second roundabout on Dave Ward Drive. Crain Buick GMC and Crain Kia of Conway have already bought property at Lewis Ranch.

Alumbaugh wouldn’t disclose the project’s total cost, saying several pieces will be built to the future tenants’ specifications, altering estimates.

Sage Partners Real Estate Solutions of Fayetteville is the leasing agent for the property. The Tyler Group of Conway is managing the project, and Centennial Bank is financing it.

Alumbaugh said the owner has been working on the development for two years and has letters of intent as well as written offers. She also mentioned talks with three big-box stores but declined to name them.

She expects Lewis Ranch construction to take two years, but the road is set to be finished by the end of this year.

Lewis Crossing
Much further along is its neighbor, Lewis Crossing.

All of its anchor stores are open, said Roger Cole with Elrod Real Estate of Little Rock, the local leasing agent.

Open now are Academy Sports, Bed Bath & Beyond, On the Border, Kay Jewelers, Books-A-Million, Dollar Tree, Michael’s, Petco, Ross Dress for Less, Ulta, Aspen Dental, AT&T and Mattress Firm.

Hideaway Pizza and Red Robin near starting construction of their standalone buildings, while Success Vision, T-Mobile and Rita’s Italian Ice are set for finish-out work. David’s Burgers, another standalone building does not yet have a construction start date, he said.

Developer Ryan Mosser of Collett & Associates of Charlotte, North Carolina, said, “Everybody that we’ve talked to out there that’s open says it’s going really well with sales. A few of the tenants are above projections … It’s a great town and all retailers do really well.”

C.R. Crawford of Fayetteville was the contractor; Garrett Excavating of Hot Springs did the site work, Construction started in August 2015.

Shoppes at Central Landing
Another big retail development in planning is the Shoppes at Central Landing, a 302,708-SF center featuring Dillard’s, retail shops, restaurants, apartments, a hotel and outparcels, according to the website of developer Jim Wilson & Associates of Montgomery, Alabama. The company’s president, Will Wilson, did not return calls from Arkansas Business.

The center is being built at the 151-acre former municipal airport on Corporate Drive. A new overpass is also underway to connect Central Landing with Conway Commons.

Bryan Patrick, director of the city’s Planning & Development Department, said the city is building the overpass and people will be using it by the end of the summer or early fall.

He said all of the city’s infrastructure improvements connected to the Central Landing project, including the overpass, cost about $28 million.

Projects With UCA Ties
The Conway Area Chamber announced earlier this month Conway Corp. will pay for a new space for startups called the Arnold Innovation Center. The utility has not pledged an exact amount yet because the center’s downtown location has not been finalized, CEO Lacy said.

A site may be known by May.

The Conductor, a public-private partnership of the University of Central Arkansas and Startup Junkie Consulting of Fayetteville, will offer programming to Arnold Innovation Center, named for retiring Conway Corp. CEO Richie Arnold.UCA will pay Startup Junkie $1.3 million to run the Conductor through September 2019.

The chamber is also studying the feasibility of renovating the historic chamber-owned Grand Theatre into a new arts venue.

UCA’s other commercial development was the $16.3 million, 67,500-SF Donaghey Hall. Students moved in in August and businesses followed.

The second, third and fourth floors are residential, but the first floor is home to Uncle T’s Deli/Market, Marble Slab Creamery, Great American Cookies, Blue Sail Coffee and Mosaique Bistro & Grill.

Trek Bikes of Conway plans to join them in mid-April, a UCA spokeswoman said.

On five-year leases, tenants pay $1,888 to $4,652 in rent, $15 per square foot. The building will also house a 1,000-SF “maker space” called The Cave that will give entrepreneurs access to advanced tools and technology. The university partnered with the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub to operate the maker space, which will yield no rent.

Office Buildings
A smaller project, three multi-tenant office buildings at 605, 635 and 655 Dave Ward Drive, have been developed by George Covington Sr. of Covington Cos. in Conway for $3.7 million. The buildings are complete, but tenants are being sought, Covington said.

Covington constructed the building at 635, while the others were remodeled. The three combined offer tenants 46,697 SF.

Asked what’s kept RSVP Catering open for decades in the highly competitive catering business, owner Yolanda Hughes has a ready answer: In this highly-specialized, rapidly changing industry, it's often what’s stayed the same that makes the difference.

“RSVP is really old school,” she said. “We like to tell our clients we can do as much as you want us to or as little as you want us to.”

The company enters its 44th year in 2017. Hughes has been around for well over half that, first as an employee and, since 2003, as owner. Handling every detail of weddings, corporate gigs and other events — from booking facilities to ordering napkins and invitations to baking the cake — prepared her to meet the specialized competition that would mount steadily through the years in the form of wedding and event planners.

“[When the company started] catering was not considered a profession,” Hughes said. “Back in the day we did pretty much everything. We were kind of one-stop shopping before Walmart took that slogan.

“We still offer all of those services to our clients. We have a pastry chef on staff, we do wedding cakes and any kind of pastries. The list of what we do is vast.”

Technology has also played a big role in the changing nature of the business. Hughes recalls one recent wedding party where she didn’t have so much as a telephone conversation with the honored couple (whom she’d never met) until the big day itself. Preparations for the 100-guest event were made entirely online, in just two weeks.

“With the Internet, people want to click and have,” she said. “In the past, we used to have nine months or a year to plan an event for a client.” 

At the same time, Hughes hasn’t dug in her heels against market trends and technology. To the contrary, she’s found a flourishing niche providing dinner service with many orders placed online. The service thrives on busy families and fewer adults knowing how to cook and it’s also been a continuing education on the intricacies of changing tastes and dietary needs.

“Food is just like fashion, it has different styles, different seasons,” she said. “I didn't know anything about vegan for years, then I fed a vegan family and got familiar with all these particular dishes. It used to be that peanut allergy was never an issue; it is now. Gluten now is a substantial issue.”

RSVP Catering targets primarily central Arkansas, but has done events as far away as Texas and Memphis. Hughes keeps a call list of about 18 workers to match the ebb and flow of events, with December being the company’s busiest month. During this party-heavy time of year RSVP will handle around 500 events and Hughes says the variety that comes with that volume of business is what she enjoys most.

“No two days are ever the same,” she said. “I love meeting different, interesting people and I get that on a weekly basis. I love what I do because it's challenging and it's just very rewarding.”

WASHINGTON — U.S. consumer confidence climbed to its highest level in more than 16 years, a strong gain for one of President Donald Trump's preferred economic indicators.

The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index rose to 125.6 in March from 116.1 in February, the best reading since December 2000. The index measures both consumers' assessment of current conditions and their expectations for the future. Both improved this month.

The "renewed optimism suggests the possibility of some upside to the prospects for economic growth in the coming months," said Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators for the business group.

More Americans, according to the survey, said that they expect hiring and incomes to increase over the next six months, while nearly a third described business conditions as "good" in March.

Economists closely monitor the mood of consumers because their spending accounts for about 70 percent of U.S. economic activity.

The president has cited consumer confidence as evidence that his administration is succeeding. When the index increased in December, the president tweeted out the figures along with the line, "Thanks Donald!"

But consumer sentiment is also reflecting political beliefs as much as economic indications.

The preliminary March results of the University of Michigan's survey of consumers noted a sharp divide between Republicans and Democrats. Republicans expected growth to strengthen, while Democrats showed worries about a "deep recession," according to the survey.

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

WASHINGTON — U.S. consumers increased their spending at the weakest pace in six months, while the 12-month rise in consumer prices was the largest in nearly five years.

Consumer spending edged up 0.1 percent in February following a similarly sluggish 0.2 percent increase in January, the Commerce Department reported Friday. The small gains suggest that overall economic growth likely slowed in the first quarter.

Incomes, however, were up a solid 0.4 percent in February, offering hope for stronger consumer spending in the months ahead.

Meanwhile, an inflation gauge closely watched by the Federal Reserve increased 2.1 percent in February compared to a year ago. It is the sharpest 12-month rise since March 2012 and slightly above the Fed's 2 percent inflation target.

The Fed raised a key interest rate in March, just three months after a hike in December. Officials have sent signals that the pace of rate hikes will accelerate this year after seven years of stagnant rates at a record low near zero. In the last two years, the Fed nudged rates up just one time in each of those years.

The overall economy grew at a 2.1 percent rate in the October-December quarter, supported by a strong gain in consumer spending.

But with the recent weakness in spending, which accounts for 70 percent of economic activity, many analysts believe growth in the January-March quarter could slow to a rate of 1.5 percent or less.

However, economists expect the economy will accelerate later this year to rates around 2.5 percent or more if President Donald Trump is successful in winning approval for his economic stimulus package, which includes tax cuts, infrastructure spending increases and deregulation.

Another reason for the optimistic spending outlook is the recent surge in consumer confidence, which by the Conference Board's measure hit a 16-year high in March.

The February spending figure reflected in part an unusually mild winter, which sapped demand for utilities. Services, the category that covers utility payments, was up just 0.1 percent. Spending on goods was also weak, with purchases of long-lasting durable goods such as autos down 0.1 percent. Nondurable goods spending showed no change.

The combination of a strong gain in incomes and modest rise in spending pushed the saving rate up to 5.6 percent of after-tax income in February, the highest level since October and up from 5.4 percent in January.

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

Before being named director of the Department of Workforce Services, Daryl Bassett served as director of Business & Commercial Services at the Arkansas secretary of state’s office. Before that, he was a member of the Arkansas Public Service Commission from 2001-10 and liaison for DWS to former Gov. Mike Huckabee from 1999-2001.

Bassett has a bachelor’s degree in business and public administration from Harding University in Searcy. He was named to lead the Department of Workforce Services by Gov. Asa Hutchinson in December 2014.

Arkansas’ unemployment rate fell in January to the lowest on record, 3.8 percent. (It has subsequently fallen to 3.7 percent in February.) What’s going on here?

I think we are seeing the fruits of a new way of looking at our state’s economy. We are more aggressive in our pursuits of the ideal “talent delivery system,” and industry is responding by taking a second look at hiring job seekers who may not have a strong work history, have been unemployed for a long time or have shown a work ethic but have a skills gap that keeps them underemployed.

However, I think that this willingness of employers to expand the types of candidates they are willing to hire should be coupled with job-driven training programs directed at those categories of job seekers.

While the unemployment rate is going down, the “underemployed” rate continues to rise. What’s behind that?

Someone without a job must be actively seeking employment to be considered unemployed; otherwise, he’s not part of the labor force. So when unemployment and employment both decline, as the state experienced throughout most of 2016, it indicates that some of those individuals are leaving the labor force, as opposed to going from unemployed to employed. The job of DWS is to find those people and bring them back into the labor force, and that will require collaboration across state agencies to be successful.

Where does our state have specific “skills gaps”?

The biggest gaps are in the “soft skills” and “middle skills” areas. Soft skills are valuable because they are “portable” skills that never expire. Technical skills, on the other hand, are those that continue evolving and require updating or periodic retraining. Middle-skill jobs require education beyond high school but less than a four-year degree and make up the largest part of the labor market.

There’s a significant gap between the types of jobs employers need to fill and the number of people who have the education and training to fill those jobs. Today, an estimated 29 million jobs require workers with an occupational certificate or associate degree, with annual wages ranging from $35,000-$75,000, and nearly 40 percent paying more than $50,000 a year. In Arkansas, middle-skill jobs account for 59 percent of the state’s labor market, but only 48 percent of the state’s workers are trained at the middle-skill level. The state needs more workers who have attained skills and earned the types of certificates, associate degrees and linked industry certifications that are available through workforce training and technical programs at Arkansas two-year colleges.

What are some of your agency’s most effective programs?

Jobs-driven training programs developed in conjunction with employers and that include all individuals interested in improving their career path and overall economic situation. Employers are interested in a job candidate pool that is well-trained and motivated to make their business profitable. To that end, the agency has focused significant attention on “discretionary” grants from the Department of Labor.

The state has received over $38 million in these grants over the last six years. Some of our other highlights are Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, which has been at the forefront of implementing innovative workforce development initiatives in Arkansas; Trade Adjustment Assistance; Rapid Response/Governor’s Dislocated Worker Task Force; and Re-employment Services.

The venerable Terry’s Finer Foods in the Heights lives now as the Heights Corner Market, a rebirth greeted with relief by all who relied on Terry’s for great meat, seafood, desserts and its selection of hard-to-find groceries.

Eric Herget, who grew up in the neighborhood, and his wife, Lou Anne, took over the small grocery store, founded in the 1940s, after it was closed in February by Lex and Ellen Golden in the wake of their financial troubles.

“It was important to keep that store going,” said Herget, who’s in the insurance business in Arkansas.

The Heights Corner Market, at 5018 Kavanaugh Blvd., has retained all four Terry’s employees, including Nathan Horn, the meat department manager, and store manager Jim “Bubba” Justice.

“I’m from the Heights, so I know the importance of that location,” Herget said. “My wife said that 18 years ago when we met, we were driving around and I told her that I would have that store someday. And I’ve told people that for years, that if Terry’s ever became available I would like to jump in there. For some reason, it’s just always been something I wanted to do.”

Lou Anne Herget, formerly head of design at Cobblestone & Vine, is similarly excited about the venture. With a career in retail, she is president of the store and is the “day-to-day boss,” Eric Herget said.

The Hergets plan to expand the grocery and to maintain the store’s reputation for high-quality meat and seafood, improving the offerings where possible. They want to offer more organic products, and they’re committed to selling Arkansas products whenever possible, working with Wilson Gardens of Wilson (Mississippi County) and the New South Produce Cooperative of Little Rock.

The former pizzeria at Terry’s — at the south end of the 8,050-SF building — now has places for customers to sit and drink coffee and will transition into a deli-type cafe.

The Hergets also plan to reopen next month the old Restaurant at Terry’s — at the north end, the former Foster Cochran space. It will serve what Eric calls “Southern comfort food,” and the announcement of a chef is likely any day. They plan to serve breakfast, lunch and early evening dinner, but because the Hergets want to be good neighbors, he said, the renamed Heights Corner Restaurant will close at 8 p.m. They’re also discussing a Saturday brunch.

The market plans to offer delivery through Chef Shuttle, along with a meal kit delivery service.

Eric and Lou Anne plan to be hands-on at the market, into which they have invested $250,000-plus, having realized that owner presence can contribute powerfully to a business’ success.

Herget is from a well-known Little Rock family. His father is Dick Herget, a retired insurance executive who now lives in Heber Springs, and his son is Ryan Herget, one of the owners of Chef Shuttle. Eric’s cousin is Ted Herget, founder of Gearhead Outfitters in Jonesboro. And Eric’s stepfather was Richard Allin, longtime newspaper columnist for the Arkansas Gazette and later the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Eric and Lou Anne lived in Heber Springs but now plan to make a home in the River Market District.

The reception to the store has been excellent, Herget said. “It’s a constant ‘thank you so much for keeping this going.’ People are very much appreciative of that.”

A Little History
The Goldens bought Terry’s in 2009 from Gene Lewellen, who had bought it from the original “Mr. Terry” — if anyone knows his first name, you’re invited to share — in the late 1960s. Gene Lewellen, who died last year, started in the grocery business as a “sack boy” at the old Black & White Store in the Heights and went to work for Mr. Terry sometime in the early ‘60s, working his way up to manager, according to his son, Jeff Lewellen of Little Rock.

After Lewellen bought Terry’s, his other son, Ed, became manager. Ed Lewellen died in 2006.

Jeff occasionally worked part time in the store, but his father urged him not to follow in his footsteps, saying, “Whatever you do, stay away from perishables.” Whenever a storm knocked out power to the store, Gene Lewellen had to take action to save the perishable goods, his son explained.

Jeff Lewellen is glad Terry’s is seeing new life as the Heights Corner Market. “Absolutely,” he said. “I’m glad for the neighborhood, that there’s a neighborhood market still in the Heights.”

“My dad always said he couldn’t have done it without my mother,” Mae Bell, Jeff said. His father “went from sacking groceries to owning his own store. I don’t know if you can even do that now. They did it.”

An 80-unit apartment project in North Little Rock tipped the scales at $7.05 million.

4748 Ridge Road LLC, an affiliate of New York’s Dwight Capital, acquired Ridge Road Village Apartments from Ridge Road Village Ltd. of Frisco, Texas.

The limited liability company assumed a May 2016 mortgage of $6.3 million held by P/R Mortgage & Investment Corp. of Carmel, Indiana.

Ridge Road Village Ltd. bought the 6.88-acre location at 4748 Ridge Road for $440,418 in September 2004 from the North Little Rock School District.

Multifamily Parcel
Apartment land in west Little Rock weighed in at $3.1 million.

The Estates of Chenal Valley LLC, an affiliate of Heritage Properties Inc. of Madison, Mississippi, purchased a 20.1-acre apartment site near the southeast corner of Rahling and Kirk roads from Deltic Timber Corp. of El Dorado.

Deltic acquired the land as part of two transactions. The company bought Sparkman Lumber Co., led by Roy and Christine Sturgis. The Pulaski County portion of that December 1956 transaction encompassed 16,552 acres.

Deltic purchased 37 acres for $2.4 million in December 2008 from Agar/Shuffield Joint Venture, led by Elvin Shuffield.

Cabinet Purchase
Cabinet facilities in Jacksonville are under new ownership after tandem deals totaling $2 million.

RDH Cabinets LLC, led by Robert and Donna Heard, bought the 71,578-SF Wright’s Cabinet facility at 2600 Cory Drive for $1.4 million from Morden Revocable Trust, led by Billy and Linda Morden.

RDH also acquired the 24,000-SF Wright’s facility at 2609 Cory Road for $600,000 from BSJ LLC, led by Bobby and Joshua Morden and Stacie Henson.

The deals were financed with a three-year loan of $2 million from First Arkansas Bank & Trust of Jacksonville and a 10-year loan of nearly $1.4 million carried by the Morden Revocable Trust.

The 4.09-acre 2600 Cory Drive property was purchased from the receiver of the Martin/Morden Partnership in Jan-uary 1986 for $135,000.

The 8.88-acre 2609 Cory Road development was bought for $600,000 in July 2006 from Carthage Group II LLC, led by Lloyd Cameron.

Eatery Land
A former restaurant site in west Little Rock changed hands in an $800,000 deal.

SS Rodney Parham LLC of Lavon, Texas, acquired the 1.62-acre location at 102 S. Rodney Parham from King Chow and Jasmine Lin.

The property previously was tied to a May 2011 funding agreement of $1.38 million from First Capital Bank of Germantown, Tennessee.

The former Tex-Mex project was purchased for $690,000 in February 2010 from Mexico Chiquito Properties LLC, led by Jerry Haynie.

Mini Transaction
A mini-storage project in southwest Little Rock rang up a $775,000 sale.

Bison Asset Management LLC of Frisco, Texas, bought the 262-unit AAA Access Mini Storage project at 4600 and 4607 Hoffman Road from the Lawerance E. Doyle Trust and Beverly J. Doyle Trust.

The 6.1-acre development previously was linked with a November 2004 mortgage of $1 million held by Arvest Bank of Fayetteville.

The trusts acquired the project for $1.23 million from Pantanal LLC, led by Arlanders Etheley.

Acreage Sale I
Two tracts totaling 320 acres in south Pulaski County drew a $632,424 transaction.

New Growth LLC, an affiliate of Forest Investment Services of Atlanta, purchased the woodlands, most of which are a half-mile west of Interstate 530, south of Hensley Loop.

The seller is Canopy Timberlands Spout Springs LLC, an affiliate of Highland Capital Management of Dallas.

The land helped secure an August 2008 mortgage of $11 million held by Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. of New York. The property was bought for $580,000 more than eight years ago from RMS Timberlands LLC of Birmingham, Alabama.

Acreage Sale II
More than 145 acres in west Pulaski County sold for $516,078.

The namesake revocable living trusts of Ronnie and Roberta Hudson acquired the land just east of Roland and along the Arkansas River from Bartley Moreland III, his wife, Debra, and their Moreland Family Ltd.

The Morelands purchased the acreage for $136,000 in November 1983 from Robert Woern.

Sherwood Site
A 3.28-acre commercial site in Sherwood changed hands in a $325,000 transaction.

TrickD Holdings LLC, led by Richard Thackeray, bought the land on the west side of 8000 Landers Road from the Shirley Bean Crawford Living Trust.

The deal is backed with a two-year loan of $200,000 from Little Rock’s Bank of the Ozarks.

Louis Bean assembled the property in three deals totaling $725 with O.D. Longstreth: $300 in May 1952, $200 in April 1955 and $225 in December 1955.

River Ridge Manor
A 9,086-SF home in Little Rock’s River Ridge neighborhood tipped the scales at $1.05 million.

Mangaraju Chakka and Kanthi Dasani purchased the house from the estate of Jerry Haynie.

The deal is funded with a 10-year loan of $1.2 million from IberiaBank of Lafayette, Louisiana.

The residence previously was tied to a January 2008 mortgage of $540,000 and a December 2008 mortgage of $1 million held by Merrill Lynch Credit Corp. of Jacksonville, Florida.

The property was bought for $25,000 in December 1970 from Union National Bank of Little Rock.

Orle Residence
A 4,994-SF home in the Orle neighborhood of west Little Rock’s Chenal Valley neighborhood is under new ownership after an $845,117 deal.

Daniel Borja-Cacho and Tiffany Metzger acquired the house from Lamay-O Inc., led by William Martin Jr.

The deal is financed with 30-year loans of $417,000 and $281,000 from Bank of Little Rock Mortgage Corp.

The residence previously was linked with a November 2015 mortgage of $666,000 held by Community Bank of Louisiana in Stonewall.

Lamay-O purchased the property for $220,000 in April 2015 from the namesake trust of Stephen and Rachel Deal.

Riverbend Home
A 3,504-SF home in Little Rock’s Riverbend neighborhood rang up a $764,000 sale.

Gladys Whitney bought the house from the Max Harris Revocable Trust, led by Bolton Harris II.

The property was acquired for $105,000 in January 1987 from Virginia Bailey.

Piedmont Abode
A 3,212-SF home in west Little Rock’s Piedmont neighborhood drew a $679,000 transaction.

The Alexander Revocable Trust, led by Faye Alexander, purchased the house from Rich Cosgrove and Nancy Green.

The residence previously was tied to an October 2006 mortgage of $460,000 held by Bank of America in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The property was bought for $575,000 more than 10 years ago from Don and Alice Holman.

Cliffewood House
A 4,344-SF home in Little Rock’s Cliffewood neighborhood sold for $528,000. Richard Hampton and Mary Thalheimer acquired the house from Walter Nixon III and his wife, Dana.

The deal is backed with a 30-year loan of $475,169 from Mells LLC, led by Elizabeth McCollum Thalheimer.

The residence previously was linked with a March 2012 mortgage of $381,500 held by First Arkansas Mortgage Co. of Jacksonville.

The Nixons purchased the property for $196,000 in December 1998 from John and George Gill.

Core Brewing & Distillery Co. of Springdale is making progress on its second location in Fayetteville, having applied with the state for a license for a microbrewery restaurant.

The new pub will be at 2558 E. Mission Blvd. in east Fayetteville.

Core, founded by Fort Smith native Jesse Core, has two locations in Springdale and pubs in Fayetteville, Rogers, Fort Smith, Bentonville, the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport and North Little Rock.

The craft brewer recently deep-sixed plans to build a distillery in Fort Smith, but Whispers hears Core is still looking to locate that distillery in east Arkansas, having received a “phenomenal deal” from an unnamed city, according to Jay Richardson, Core VP. Core would also be locating a cooperage — a facility to make barrels — at the distillery site.

Last week we had the names of the three Hot Springs businessmen in the wrong order in the caption on a front-page photo. I could explain to you (because I investigated) the innocent path to an embarrassing error, but ultimately it was just a mistake of the kind that required a correction that you can see on Page 5 of our print edition.

Writing corrections is miserable, humiliating work because it is an acknowledgement that we failed in our fundamental goal of getting facts right. But those of us for whom facts are Job One do not have to be dragged into making a correction and doing it as promptly and as prominently as possible. Leaving our audience misinformed is an infinitely more miserable prospect than confessing that we’ve made a sloppy error.

I offer up this mea culpa because I’m about to launch into a rant, and I wouldn’t want anyone to think that I claim perfection. An error is an accident, and most are fender benders; there are people out there whose abuse of the First Amendment is more analogous to a terrorist deliberately driving a vehicle onto a busy sidewalk.

Shortly after I became painfully aware of the photo caption error, I learned that Alex Jones, the purveyor of the InfoWars conspiracy theory website, had finally apologized for participating in the outrageous “Pizzagate” attack on Hillary Clinton and her campaign manager, John Podesta, and a popular Washington pizzeria called Comet Ping Pong.

Protected here in my real news bubble, I had barely heard of InfoWars, much less that Clinton and Podesta were supposedly running a child sex ring out of a pizza joint, until a troubled young father drove 350 miles from North Carolina to investigate for himself — just as an InfoWars video had encouraged him to do. He announced his righteous presence by popping off a round from his assault rifle inside the restaurant.

When the police revealed that a nutjob with a high-powered weapon had cited InfoWars as his inspiration, Jones began to quietly remove all references to Pizzagate from his website and social media, which suggests consciousness of guilt. That was in early December. Only after the owner of Comet Ping Pong, James Alefantis, wrote a letter in late February demanding an apology and retraction did Jones publicly distance himself from the dangerous slander.

The carefully lawyered apology made sure to pound home, over and over, that a lot of other “media outlets” were reporting essentially the same stuff, which, Jones generously allowed, “we now believe was an incorrect narrative.” This, of course, is the “everyone else was doing it” defense that worked so well on your mother.

Jones didn’t say when he arrived at the astonishing conclusion that he had been feeding his trusting audience poisonous swill, but we do understand the timing of his apology. As reporter Paul Farhi pointed out in The Washington Post, Austin-based Jones waited as long as possible to respond to Alefantis’ demand before Texas law would allow the restaurateur to seek punitive damages if he decides to sue Jones.

“This has about the same level of sincerity as the downcast ‘sorry’ muttered by a 6-year-old after kicking his brother while Dad glowers over him with a yardstick in hand,” Post columnist Margaret Sullivan wrote.

I hope Alefantis sues. I would cheer if Jones and InfoWars — who have also trafficked in lies about the slaughter of children at Sandy Hook Elementary, the slaughter of Americans on 9/11, Barack Obama’s citizenship and the government plot that is fluoridated water — faced the same fate as Nick Denton and his odious Gawker site. Jones is already morally bankrupt, and financial bankruptcy would not be too great a price for the harm he has done to James Alefantis and to the gullible minds he has preyed on.

I’m not sure why anyone would waste time on a site whose very name suggests it is at war with information. Clicks are the currency of the internet, and I’m careful where I spend them.

I also avoid cable news, a vast wasteland where every hour must be filled with fresh outrage. I set my DVR to record a CNN series called “The History of Comedy” and somehow managed to get instead Don Lemon and enough disembodied heads for the opening credits of “The Brady Bunch.” I had hoped for a few laughs, but it only took a few minutes before I was ready to cry.

One of the first changes I made when I became editor of Arkansas Business in 1999 was to designate a standard spot for all corrections, and that spot is at the end of the Whispers column specifically because that was and remains the best-read part of our newspaper.

Gwen Moritz is editor of Arkansas Business. Email her at GMoritz@ABPG.com.