REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS

Company buys Little Rock Bass Pro store in $21.9 million deal; 'no changes' expected, official says

A Connecticut-based limited liability company recently paid $21.9 million to buy the Bass Pro Outdoor World retail store and almost 15 adjacent acres at the Gateway Town Center.
A Connecticut-based limited liability company recently paid $21.9 million to buy the Bass Pro Outdoor World retail store and almost 15 adjacent acres at the Gateway Town Center.

SPT Prairie 1 BP Drive LLC, a Connecticut limited liability company, paid $21.9 million to buy the Bass Pro Outdoor World retail store and almost 15 adjacent acres at Little Rock's Gateway Town Center.

SPT is affiliated with Starwood Capital Group, a Greenwich, Conn., firm that includes investments in global real estate.

The Little Rock Bass Pro store has more than 104,000 square feet. It was built in 2013. The building and property were last appraised at $12.2 million.

"Under the new agreement, we are a tenant with a long-term lease in this location," said Jack Wlezien, a Bass Pro spokesman. "There are no changes for our customers and we will continue operating in Little Rock as we have in the past."

A lease agreement filed at the Pulaski County courthouse showed SPT as the landlord with Bass Pro and Cabela's Wholesale Inc. listed as tenants. The term of the lease expires in 2042.

Bass Pro Shops closed on an almost $5 billion acquisition of Cabela's, one of Bass Pro's biggest rivals, in September. Bass Pro Shops has 95 stores in the United States and Canada and Cabela's has 82 stores.

The lease agreement was signed by Andrew Sossen, vice president of SPT and chief operating officer of publicly traded Starwood Property Trust Inc.

OUT IN THE WOODS

The 240-unit Canopy Apartments on Kanis Road was bought last month by 9201 Kanis Canopy LLC, an affiliate of Dallas-based davisRE LLC, a real estate investment company in Dallas.

Out in the Woods Limited Partnership sold the property for $9.4 million. The apartments were known as Out in the Woods Apartments.

9201 Kanis Canopy financed the purchase with a $7.8 million mortgage with Prudential Multifamily Mortgage that matures in 2024.

Out in the Woods is an affiliate of the Monde Group, a development firm based in Maumelle.

The Monde Group wasn't trying to sell the apartments, said Blake Jackson, managing director of the Monde Group. Jackson knows Patrick Jordan, senior director in Memphis with Berkadia, a commercial real estate firm based in New York.

"DavisRE had been working with Berkadia and I knew Patrick," Jackson said. "He gave them a tour [of the Canopy Apartments], they made an offer and the next thing we knew we sold it. It was out of the blue."

Renovations at the apartments in 2014 included work on siding and soffits, replacement of balconies and roofs, drainage work, parking and striping, fencing and an updated laundry.

Berkadia, a joint venture of Berkshire Hathaway and Leucadia National Corp., represented Out in the Woods Limited Partnership in the deal.

DavisRE also bought the Summit House Apartments in Little Rock for $10.8 million this summer.

The Monde Group will use the money to work on future projects, Jackson said.

One of the projects is Arkopolis, to be built on 40 acres on the Arkansas River in North Little Rock near the Rockwater Village development. The Monde Group bought the property this year. The start of construction on the mixed-use development is a about a year away.

The Monde Group has been working with designers on the project and plans to get bids from general contractors, Jackson said.

The Canopy Apartments were built in 1974 and expanded in 1984, Berkadia said.

Blake's father, James Jackson, who is retired from Cromwell Architects Engineers Inc. of Little Rock, developed Out in the Woods Apartments in the 1970s. Blake and his two brothers and their father make up the Monde Group.

Stacey Davis of davisRE did not return a call seeking comments about the purchase.

TALLY ROAD LAND

Spirit Realty LP, a limited partnership based in Dallas, paid $5.4 million last month for 2.7 acres of undeveloped property at 4711 Talley Road in Little Rock, near Colonel Glenn Road and Interstate 430.

The seller was CT BTS LLC of Fayetteville. The manager for CT BTS was Christian Baldwin, managing partner of The McLain Group in Fayetteville, which specializes in real estate development.

Baldwin did not return a call seeking comment.

Spirit Realty Capital is one of the largest publicly traded real estate investment trusts in the country. Boyd Messmann, executive vice president and chief acquisition officer for Spirit Realty Capital, said he was unable to comment because he signed a confidentiality agreement.

The property was last appraised for almost $700,000.

RESTAURANT GROWTH

HOA Restaurant Holder LLC, an Atlanta firm and an affiliate of Hooters of America, paid almost $1.4 million for about 1.7 acres owned by Bass Pro Outdoor World LLC last month.

The property appraised at about $711,000.

Hooters has restaurants in North Little Rock and Fort Smith.

Included in documentation filed at the courthouse, Bass Pro agreed not to sell property within 1,000 feet of the Hooters restaurant to restaurants that derive more than 20 percent of their revenue from the sale of chicken wings, including Buffalo Wild Wings, Pluckers, Twin Peaks and Tilted Kilt. HOA was prevented from selling boats, boating products or equipment for hunting, fishing or camping or for the operation of a bowling facility.

HEIGHTS PROPERTY

GALPAL Investments LLC paid $1 million last month for a two-story building at 5208 Kavanaugh Blvd. in Little Rock's Heights neighborhood.

The current tenants of the building -- Yancey's Liquor, Masching Financial Group and two law firms -- will remain at the 8,500 square foot building, which is between a fire station and a branch of US Bank.

GALPAL is an investment business of Alicen and Tim Paladino, who own Allpets Animal Hospital in Little Rock. GALPAL was represented by John Hathaway and Jamie McLarty of Coldwell Banker Commercial Hathaway Group.

Casi Runnells and Isaac Smith of Colliers International represented the Estate of Jo Ann Yancey, the seller.

"This purchase represents an investment in a successful rental property in what is probably the healthiest submarket in Little Rock," said Hathaway, senior vice president of the Hathaway firm.

The building was last appraised at $1.1 million.

GALPAL borrowed about $1 million from Riverside Bank of Little Rock to finance the deal.

METHODIST OFFICES

The United Methodist Foundation of Arkansas paid $625,000 last month for 4.6 acres of undeveloped property in the Villages of Wellington.

The Methodist foundation plans to build a new office complex, said Jim Argue, president of the foundation.

The foundation has been at its present location, 5300 Evergreen Drive, for almost 20 years.

"We've just run out of space," Argue said. "This will about triple our space."

Besides office space, about a third of the new facility will be used for a training center, Argue said.

The complex will be about 11,600 square feet, including basement space, Argue said. It should cost about $3 million including the land.

The architectural firm is Roark Perkins Perry Yelvington. Bailey Construction will be the contractor, Argue said.

The property, on Wellington Hills Road near The Church at Wellington Assembly of God, was last appraised at $813,000.

Winrock Development Co. was the seller.

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