Developer top donor in governor's race

Competitors from around the country are scheduled to gather next month for a USA Shooting-sanctioned trap and skeet event at the Delta Resort & Spa near the tiny Arkansas town of Tillar.

It is the sort of gathering that property owner and Tennessee businessman Gary Gibbs envisioned when he opened the 132-room resort in 2012. Gibbs, an avid hunter and shooting enthusiast, built the lodge and competitive shooting range on nearly 2,000 acres of Desha County land that public records show he purchased for $3.1 million in 2008.

Gibbs, who has been hunting in Arkansas for more than 30 years, said he began building what he describes as a $40 million hunting lodge seven years ago.

"It's been a dream of mine for a while," Gibbs said. "We can safely say we're one of the best shooting venues in the world. That's what the competitors that come through tell us."

In addition to recreational and competitive endeavors, Delta Resort & Spa has served as a place for Gibbs to entertain government officials from nearby towns and counties. Gibbs, through his Coastal Phoenix Investments, is building government subsidized housing in three southeastern Arkansas communities.

Gibbs, who along with his companies make up the largest donor in this year's Arkansas governor's race, has projects underway in Warren, McGehee and Lake Village. All three developments began after he received more than $1.5 million in tax credits through the Arkansas Development Finance Authority in 2011.

Low-income housing tax credits, established by the Internal Revenue Service in 1986 and good for 10 years, are often sold by developers for equity in order to fund projects. Over the life of a credit, a $100,000 incentive would be worth $1 million and could be sold for about $800,000 in cash, according to the finance authority.

None of the three tax-credit projects in south Arkansas was completed before the December 2013 deadline.

Citing weather as the primary reason for delays, Gibbs petitioned the Arkansas Development Finance Authority in March for the ability to transfer his 2011 tax credits to 2014 without having to reapply.

That request was denied, and Coastal Phoenix had to return the credits and reapply for funding.

Lake Village Mayor JoAnne Bush, McGehee Mayor Jack May and County Judge Mack Ball of Chicot County attended the hearing in support of Coastal Phoenix.

The authority awarded approximately $1.4 million in credits to Gibbs' company in July.

Bush and May said they have visited the hunting lodge after Gibbs invited them. They noted that the lodge and the housing developments will be an economic boost for their communities.

Warren Mayor Bryan Martin said he was happy to see new housing in town, but he declined an invitation to visit the hunting lodge last year.

"It's better to be at arm's length. This is a business deal," Martin said. "I think it was inappropriate for me to have any kind of social interaction with the parties involved. I was invited, but no. Several others went. I thought it better to keep it at arm's length. We're dealing with a lot of money and a somewhat controversial concept."

Controversy has accompanied a number of Gibbs' developments over the years. More than 100 gathered at a Planning Commission meeting in Warren last year to express their preference that the developments be located in a different part of town.

The Lake Village project, initially intended for within the city limits, was moved into Chicot County after residents expressed concerns.

Residents in Terrebonne Parish in Louisiana protested and helped block Coastal Phoenix from receiving $10 million in hurricane recovery bonds for a 2011 project.

Often the fuss over Gibbs' developments stems from their identification as government-funded and intended for low-income residents.

Gibbs' financial history, which includes a 2005 bankruptcy filing in Tennessee, also has raised concerns for some. Gibbs reported $10.3 million in debt and $643,035 in assets, according to a 2005 court filing.

Despite construction delays and some local protests, the mayors in Warren, McGehee and Lake Village expressed enthusiasm for Gibbs' developments.

Gibbs estimates that all three projects -- weather pending -- will be finished by the end of this year or early February at the latest. The Lake Village one could be complete within two weeks, and McGehee's within the next five weeks, he said.

"And we want to build more," Gibbs said. "We believe in them."

Cypress Grove is the first new housing development in McGehee in 40 years, according to the town's mayor.

Lake Village hasn't waited quite as long for new construction, but something of this magnitude is rare, its mayor said.

"Gary has invested in our community, and I'm delighted he chose our community to invest in," Bush said. "It's an investment that is badly needed in our area."

Those who have experience dealing with Gibbs say that because his projects are often built with federal funds and other creative financing, patience is needed.

An example of the sometimes slow-moving projects is the Austin Hotel in Hot Springs. Gibbs has been under contract to purchase the hotel for nearly two years, and on several occasions the purchase has been on the verge of closing, but the deal has yet to be finalized.

Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Jim Fram has been on the job for the past 18 months and said that even though the closing has been delayed, excitement remains for the proposed sale of the Austin Hotel and for Gibbs' plans to turn it into a larger hotel and convention center.

"We're excited somebody is willing to put in the investment for a major convention hotel," Fram said. "Our folks in the tourism business tell us that the more convention hotel rooms and quality rooms we have, the more business they can bring to town. The direction that the project is going is a good one.

"We're just ready for it to happen."

For now the Delta Resort & Spa is Gibbs' only hotel property in Arkansas. Duck hunting season begins in November, and the resort figures to be a popular spot for hunters visiting from out of state, the McGehee mayor said.

"It's a real benefit to us," May said. "He's spent several million dollars developing that lodge. It's beautiful. You listen to him talk, and it's going to get better. It's an ongoing project."

SundayMonday on 10/19/2014