A $7.3 million land purchase made by billionaire and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones will benefit the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, but officials with UA and the Razorback Foundation won't say how they plan to use Jones' purchase of about 250 acres of land in south Fayetteville.
A land deed dated Dec. 30 shows the price down to the penny paid by Jones for property that sits mostly west of South Cato Springs Road and Interstate 49. Jones paid $7,313,890.27 for land made up of two sections, with the largest section north of Judge Cummings Road and another, much smaller section south of the road.
Three days later, Jones donated the land to Cato Springs Road LLC. The entity is registered to Sean Rochelle, who is executive director of the Razorback Foundation, which supports Arkansas Razorback athletics.
"At this time, we're not prepared to comment on the transaction," Rochelle said.
UA's top spokesman, Laura Jacobs, declined to comment except to say the foundation "is the entity involved in the question about a possible land donation, not the University of Arkansas."
A message left with Rich Dalrymple, vice president of public relations and communications for the Cowboys, was not returned.
Jones, a North Little Rock native, was a captain for the 1964 national championship Razorbacks team and ranks No. 117 on the list of Forbes' 400 richest Americans. Last year, the Cowboys were valued at $3.2 billion, making them the second-most-valuable sports franchise in the world.
Jones bought the land from Chambers Bank, which took ownership of the land in 2010 after the aborted South Pass residential development project.
"The one thing I can tell you is it's a piece of property Mr. Jones thought highly of. He thought highly enough to purchase it and then turn around and donate it," said Hunter Haynes of HCH Consulting, which worked with Chambers Bank to find a buyer for the land.
Jeremy Pate, director of development services for Fayetteville, confirmed the total purchase size of 254 acres bought by Jones.
The land is near 600 acres of city-owned property, with plans calling for a regional park on the city-owned land.
Chambers Bank approached the city with a rezoning request in 2014, seeking more flexibility in how the property could be used. The request was granted to help make the property more attractive to buyers, and Fayetteville designated 78.8 acres for urban thoroughfare (mixed-use development), 54 acres for neighborhood conservation (residential) and 120 acres for community service (mixed-use).
Other recent, prominent land donations involving the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville include a gift in 1985 from Verna Cook Garvan for a site that became Garvan Woodland Gardens near Hot Springs. Garvan Woodland Gardens is a part of UA's Fay Jones School of Architecture.
In 2004, a gift from Dick and Carol Pratt of 126 home sites a few miles from Lake Village was auctioned by UA, with the proceeds going to build Anthony Chapel at Garvan Woodland Gardens.
Information for this article was contributed by Joel Walsh of NWA Media.
Metro on 01/08/2015