Thawed Asset

Our real estate watchers alerted us to a somewhat notable deal near downtown Bentonville.

A group of local investors paid The Bank of Fayetteville $650,000 for an empty, 15,000-SF building at 406 S.E. 5th St.

The purchase was made through an entity called Icebreaker LLC.

Many moons ago, that building housed a private club and restaurant known as The Ice House, one of the first ventures that aimed to make the downtown area a destination.

Bentonville residents of a certain age will recall the establishment as big news when it opened in April 2006, most notably because of the months-long vocal opposition to the business, which planned to sell alcohol.

My how far we’ve come.

The Ice House was originally developed as a fine-dining location, but quickly evolved into more of an after-hours spot. It had a bar made of ice, dance floor, music venue, a lounge with oversized velvet couches — all the trappings of a Dickson Street club, smack in the middle of Benton County.

We recall one of the owners touting the business as being one of the premier hot spots and night spots for adults in Northwest Arkansas.

Less than two years later, it was closed for failure to pay state sales taxes.

The group of investors now in possession of the brick-exterior building — who right now include Stan Zylowski, April Seggebruch and Rustin Chrisco — are planning to repurpose the building as commercial/office space.

The Bank of Fayetteville backed the purchase with a loan of $905,250.

Zylowski and Seggebruch, by the way, are co-founders of Bentonville retail software company Movista.

Zylowski tells us this investment is strictly personal, and not company related.

“My 80-hour week is at Movista,” he says. “I don’t want people to get the idea that I’m turning into some sort of real estate mogul, rather than building software.”

Ed Belto of Newmark Grubb Arkansas in Bentonville is marketing the property.