Barber Files Bankruptcy, Claims $47.8M in Debts

Former Northwest Arkansas developer Brandon Barber has filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition listing $47.8 million in debts and no assets.

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According to the petition filed July 31, $23.5 million of Barber’s debt is tied to creditors holding secured claims, including a $15.85 million claim by Enterprise Bank & Trust in Clayton, Mo.

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Other creditors include First Arkansas Bank of Jacksonville (about $5 million), First Federal Bank of Arkansas ($2.9 million), Huntsville-based First State Bank of Northwest Arkansas (about $9.7 million total), Arkansas Bankers’ Bank of Little Rock ($750,000) and Timberland Bank of Hoquiam, Wash. ($250,000).

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Barber also lists a $8.47 million unsecured claim by Legacy National Bank of Springdale and gambling debts totaling $185,000 to the Bellagio and Venetian casinos in Las Vegas.

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Barber’s Lynnkohn LLC declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy last August after Legacy National Bank filed a $18.7 million foreclosure action against him for defaulting on two mortgages totaling $19.4 million for his Legacy Building project in downtown Fayetteville.

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Barber’s former wife, Keri Chambers, along with her sister, Laura Chambers, and Laura’s former husband, Seth Kafka, were guarantors on the original $16.7 million mortgage on the Legacy Building.

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The Chambers sisters are daughters of Johnny Chambers, owner of Chambers Bank of Danville.

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Laura Chambers filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in May. The Legacy Building has since been foreclosed upon and sold at auction to the banks that financed its construction.

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Barber’s bankruptcy filing also includes debts related to Bellafont, Barber’s mixed-use project on Joyce Boulevard in Fayetteville.

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The filing lists a $1.8 million claim from Bellafont business owner Mason Hiba, who filed a lawsuit against Barber in 2007 for failing to have his building completed by the promised date.

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There is also $30,000 claim from Precept Builders Inc. of Dallas, the general contractor on the project.

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