Arvest Bank Seeking Judgment Against Michaels
by March 30, 2015 12:00 am 117 views
Arvest Bank has filed a non-monetary civil suit against Texas-based arts and crafts retail chain Michaels Stores Inc.
Arvest and one of its affiliates, ABREHD LLC, were named as plaintiffs in the complaint for declaratory judgment, filed March 18 in Benton County Circuit Court by Fayetteville firm Hall Estill.
The bank is pursuing a legal judgment from the court in a dispute involving 30.48 acres of undeveloped commercial land in the Pleasant Crossing retail area of Rogers.
According to court documents, Arvest executed a $10 million mortgage in July 2005 with a development group planning to construct a 315,000-SF shopping center. Michaels entered into a lease agreement with the developer in February 2006, but the project never got off the ground and ABREHD — a subsidiary of the bank that holds foreclosed real estate — took ownership of the property in December 2010.
The bank has since lined up a buyer for the land, but Michaels is refusing to acknowledge termination of its long-gone lease agreement, and that’s holding up the process.
A real estate source of ours tells us this is called putting a “cloud on the title” of the property, and without a free and clear title, Arvest won’t be able to close the deal with the buyer.
If Michaels does not voluntarily forgo its lease rights, Benton County Circuit Judge Doug Schrantz will eventually hear arguments from both sides to decide who has the rights to the property in question.
Stay tuned.