Inn at Carnall Hall/Ella?s on Schedule

James Lambeth said construction is on schedule for the renovation of Carnall Hall to be completed by July 4 and Ella’s Restaurant to be open at about the time fall classes begin at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.

“It’ll be open when we get all the kinks worked out,” Lambeth said.

Lambeth is a partner in Carnall Inn Development Co. LLC, which is spearheading the $7.1 million project to convert the second-oldest building on the UA campus into The Inn at Carnall Hall. The other partners are Rob Merry-Ship, Richard Alexander, Ted and Leslie Belden and Miles James. James is owner and chef of James at the Mill, the upscale restaurant located at Lambeth’s Inn at the Mill in Johnson. James is also Lambeth’s son-in-law.

Lambeth said Ella’s will be able to accommodate more than 300 diners.

Ella’s Restaurant is named after Ella Carnall, for whom the building is named. The inn also will include a bar called The Faculty Lounge.

Plans call for 49 rooms at The Inn at Carnall Hall. The 480,000-SF Carnall Hall has been empty for a decade. Paula Marinoni, a local activist, was instrumental in the campaign to save Carnall Hall.

The developers will have a 41-year lease on the property, which will still be owned by the UA. (The length of the lease will allow developers to get tax breaks to renovate a historic building.) The university will get half of the profits from the inn and restaurant and will be able to use the facility and staff to teach classes on hospitality through its School of Human and Environmental Sciences (formerly the Department of Home Economics).

Built in 1905, Carnall Hall was the first women’s dormitory at the UA. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

Sassafras Owner to Buy Building

Steve Jenkins, the owner of Sassafras, said he plans to buy the building at 708 N. College Ave. in Fayetteville that he has been leasing as his restaurant location.

Terms are still being negotiated, but Jenkins said the price will be between $300,000 and $400,000. Cliff Lawson currently owns the property. Jenkins said he expects the deal to be completed in January.

The building was originally constructed as a residence in the late 1920s or early ’30s. Jenkins said it is 3,300 SF, not including an outside patio and basement storage space.

Jenkins said he looked at leasing the Old Post Office building, which has been vacant since Hog City Diner closed on June 1, but he decided to buy his current location instead.

“I got into this building because I love cooking,” Jenkins said. “If I got into the Old Post Office, I’d have to be a manager.”

Sassafras opened in the Ozark Mountain Smokehouse on Dickson Street in 2000 and moved to the current location later that year.

Jammin’ Java to Open in OPO

Brandon Karn plans to open a coffee shop called Jammin’ Java by Dec. 9 in Fayetteville’s historic Old Post Office building.

Jammin’ Java will occupy 800 SF of space that previously housed Stogie’s, a cigar and gift shop that moved to Rogers. The main part of the building, 10,000 SF that most recently was home to Hog’s City Diner, has been vacant since that restaurant closed on June 1. Ron Bumpass, whose family owns the 91-year-old building, is still looking for a tenant for that space.

Karn said Jammin’ Java will serve about 50 different kinds of coffee and 10 or 15 different teas. The coffee shop also will offer bagels and fruit bowls for breakfast, and the lunch menu will include cold sandwiches, soups and salads. Initially, Jammin’ Java will be open from 6:30 a.m. to about 9 p.m. seven days a week. Karn said he will provide delivery service to businesses near the downtown Fayetteville square.

Karn managed Gloria Jean’s coffee shop in the Northwest Arkansas Mall for the past four years. A native of Grand Junction, Colo., he recently earned a bachelor’s degree in small business management and entrepreneurship from the University of Arkansas’ Walton College of Business.