Tom Terminella?s White Knight

We delve deeper into the foreclosure-countersuit between Metropolitan National Bank of Little Rock and Fayetteville developer Tom Terminella in this issue, but just didn’t have room for everything.

One piece of information found noteworthy in the discovery evidence we examined showed Terminella told MNB’s Washington County president Larry Olson he had “carried” his partners to the tune of $4 million during the 2006 real estate downturn rather than ask them to service debt.

Another tidbit that caught our eye was the “White Knight” scenario pitched by Terminella as a way to buy more time and hold off foreclosure action.

Terminella reported efforts to seek a “White Knight” investor to buy out his partners and allow him the liquidity to pay off many of his debts.

It appears he found the savior in shining armor he was looking for.

We told you about Terminella selling his 440-acre Mountain Ranch property in Fayetteville on July 19 for $17.14 million. Now that certain other transactions have closed we can tell you who the buyer was.

Little Rock attorney and real estate developer Gene Cauley purchased the property from Terminella and could be making other moves soon.

Cauley, who owns Seco Advertising in Little Rock, was recently bought out by his law partners at Cauley Bowman Carney & Williams PLLC and also stands to receive more than $8 million for his 32.75 percent stake in Centennial Bancshares after Home BancShares of Conway bought it out on Aug. 24.

In a news release announcing his departure from the law firm he founded in 1994, Cauley said he planned to focus on his other business interests.

Making a splash in the Northwest Arkansas real estate market appears to be one of them.

We expect a continuing trend of well-financed, out-of-market investors taking advantage of low-price opportunities in Northwest Arkansas.