Old McDonald?s Farm Still Belongs to Farmer

The only thing clear about Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s alleged plans to build a large office complex in McDonald County, Mo., is that the retailer has not yet bought one inch of property from Neff Basore. Neither has the Bentonville company’s development partner Carter and Burgess Inc. of Fort Worth, Texas.

Basore is the rancher who owns the 200-acre cattle and hay operation that runs north from Bella Vista along both sides of U.S. Highway 71. He said the property is for sale, but wouldn’t disclose an asking price.

Basore said Carter and Burgess does hold an option to buy the land, but he gave the deal a “less than 50 percent chance” of going through. An option is not even as far along as a contract, Basore said, and there’s all kinds of things that can make a contract fall through.

“Yeah, I hear I’ve sold the land,” Basore said. “All I know is what I’ve read in the daily newspapers. You know they’re always so accurate, so I guess I have sold it.”

Officials at the McDonald County Assessor’s Office said no deed has changed hands lately between Basore and any other business.

An application by CEI Engineering Associates of Bentonville to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a wetlands construction permit at the site got the rumor mill going. CEI does some work for Wal-Mart, but its chairman Mike Shupe is not accepting calls on the subject. Carter and Burgess isn’t talking either.

Wal-Mart’s massive public relations office won’t confirm or deny much past the fact that the company sells retail goods. Given the shroud of secrecy surrounding the Wal-Martians’ interest in the land, we can only assume they aspire to build something there that’s vital to national security. Basore said the bottom line is he does not have a check from anyone, yet.