Whisenhunt a Familiar Name in Commercial Game

When news broke March 9 that Joe Whisenhunt, through his Whisenhunt Investment Group, had purchased 375 acres of prime real estate in Benton County, we recognized the name immediately.

Then we went to work, trying to figure out why his name was so familiar. Part of what we found was the following excerpt from Arkansas Business’ 25 Wealthiest Arkansans list, published in 2009:

“Joe Whisenhunt made a fortune in developing commercial and industrial real estate projects. Lately, the development of natural gas wells on his 4,000-acre cattle ranch at Bee Branch is adding to the family wealth.

Yes, his Harmony Meadows ranch is right in the heart of the Fayetteville Shale Play, where the price of an acre in the area, depending on many factors, can run from $2,500 to $6,500.

Through Whisenhunt Investments, he has been involved in developing several projects in west Little Rock, including 120 acres that were formerly part of Shackleford Dairy Farm.

He also made a fortune with the sale of his health care software firm, Integrated Medical Networks LLC, for $65 million back in 1998.”

We thought our readers might find that interesting, too, given the fact Whisenhunt appears poised to be a player in the Northwest Arkansas market for the foreseeable future.

Speaking of players, there were quite a few involved in the $19 million deal that resulted in Whisenhunt acquiring that acreage from Bank of America.

Brian Shaw and David Erstine of Sage Partners represented BOA for the Pleasant Crossing portion of the deal. That sale was for about $8 million.

Clinton Bennett of Grub & Ellis-Solomon Partners represented the bank for the Pinnacle Hills part of the buy. That sale was for about $7 million.

Ramsay Ball of Colliers International represented BOA for The Grove part of the deal. That sale was for about $4 million.