Bentonville Hotel Back on Market

by Paul Gatling ([email protected]) 192 views 

A Bentonville hotel acquired less than three months ago is back on the market.

Kunal Mody, a partner in the Little Rock-based Sree Akshar Inc. ownership group, is asking $3.5 million for the Motel 6 at 215 S.E. Walton Blvd.

The property, formerly a Sleep Inn, was acquired along with the adjacent Clarion Hotel and Convention Center in a combined $3.3 million deal finalized March 16.

“They had to buy [the Sleep Inn] to get the [Clarion],” said Brad McCray, a broker with the central Arkansas commercial real estate firm Rector Phillips Morse Inc., which is marketing the property. “They’re planning to convert the Clarion into a Four Points by Sheraton, so that’s kind of their baby. I don’t think the [Motel 6] was going to fit their portfolio long term.”

Mody re-opened the Sleep Inn under the Motel 6 flag March 26.

The two-story development on 4.01 acres has 103 rooms (70 double queen, 33 king). The 41,025-SF building was built in 1998 and renovated in 2010.

McCray said interest in the property has been “pretty active,” and that occupancy has jumped to 40 percent since it re-opened.

The Sleep Inn sold for $1.3 million. The Clarion — which includes a sit-down restaurant — sold for $2 million.

Both properties, which total about 10 acres, were non-operational at the time of the Sree Akshar acquisition.

They were shuttered in mid-September, a result of the economic downturn. Hobbs & Curry FLP of Fort Smith previously owned both hotels.

Sree Akshar also owns a handful of hotels in the Little Rock/Jacksonville area, mostly Best Westerns and Comfort Inns.

According to the most recent tax collection totals from the Bentonville A&P Commission, Motel 6 generated $11,650 in revenue in April.

As a Sleep Inn, the property generated $388,016 in 2011 revenue before closing.