Real Deals: Hospitality investment in Benton County tops $14 million

A pair of Benton County hotels changed hands recently in separate deals totaling $14.08 million. The 78-room TownePlace Suites by Marriott at 3100 S.E. 14th St. in Bentonville sold for $5.91 million, and the 130-room Candlewood Suites at 4601 W. Rozell St. in Rogers’ Scottsdale Center development sold for $8.17 million.

The all-suite hotels were purchased by an investment firm in the Middle East, and will continue to be managed by Atlanta-based hospitality investment firm Hospitality Ventures Management Group.

Affiliates of private equity firm Rockbridge Capital of Columbus, Ohio, the original developers of both hotels, were the sellers. Searcy-chartered First Security Bank provided financing.

TownePlace Suites opened in 2003 and was appraised this year for $4.46 million. Candlewood Suites opened in 2001 and expanded in 2005. Benton County appraisers valued the property this year at $5.05 million.

• Stribling Industrial
A 12.24-acre industrial development in the Rogers Industrial Park has changed owners for $9.9 million. Magnolia Investments LLC, managed by Bill Stribling Jr., bought the 274,312-square-foot office/warehouse property at 1603 N. 35th St. in Rogers.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. of New York, through its Stribling AR LLC and Stribling AR II LLC, was the seller. Alabama-based Regions Bank provided financing with a 10-year loan of $4.97 million.

Stribling is president of one of the building tenants, Stribling Packaging Inc. The building was built in 2002, and the property appraised earlier this year for $9.82 million. Stribling Packaging and Yusen Logistics are the building tenants.

The property last changed hands in March 2007 when Goldman Sachs paid $9.2 million for the property. WFTW Properties LLC, led by Stribling, was the seller.

• Crossmark Claim
A sale-leaseback deal involving an 18,500-square-foot office building in Bentonville registered $7.99 million. Pacheco Pass Properties LP of California bought the Crossmark Center for Collaboration at 607 S.W. F St., near the Wal-Mart Stores Inc. headquarters.

Chester CM Bentonville DST, a Delaware statutory trust controlled by New York investor Lawrence Kadish of First Fiscal Fund, was the seller. Chester CM acquired the building in September 2016 for $6.45 million. Austin, Texas-based AIC Ventures was the seller.

NL Ventures IX F Street LLC, controlled by AIC Ventures, bought the building in March 2015 for $6 million. Crossmark Inc. of Plano, Texas, was the seller.

Crossmark, a sales and marketing services company in the consumer goods industry, signed a long-term lease for the facility concurrent with AIC’s purchase of the building. The company opened the collaboration center in 2014. Crossmark acquired the 1-acre lot in October 2011 for $700,000. The Marjorie L. Townsend Trust was the seller.

• Carwash Funding
ARSPR ELM LLC, led by Christian Baldwin, has picked up a two-year, $2.55 million construction mortgage from Danville-based Chambers Bank. The loan is tied to a 1.78-acre lot in the Elm Springs Road Business Park, just off the Elm Springs Road exit along northbound Interstate 49 in Springdale.

ARSPR paid $1 million for the property, a purchase price of $12.90 per square foot. Mathews Investments LLC, led by Vickie and Bette Mathews, was the seller. Baldwin and Scott McLain are the owners of Fayetteville commercial real estate firm The McLain Group.

Development plans include construction of an express tunnel carwash with an additional structure that will house self-serve wash bays.

• Arts District Purchase
A commercial sale in downtown Bentonville tipped the scales at $2.43 million. 502 SW A LLC, led by Paul Esterer along with partners Dale Brunk and Patrick Sbarra, is the new owner of the property at 502 S.W. A St., situated in the city’s Arts District and immediately south of Pedaler’s Pub and Bike Rack Brewing Co.

Mathes Investments LLC, led by Mark Mathes, was the seller. Searcy-chartered First Security Bank provided financing with an 18-month mortgage of $2.6 million. Ed Belto with Newmark Grubb Arkansas was the listing agent.

The property — three parcels totaling 0.86 acres — includes two Class B office buildings (9,094 square feet and 2,166 square feet), as well as an undeveloped 0.24-acre lot for future development.

New tenants of the larger building will include Missouri-based Bates Architects, which will relocate its Rogers office, and Rock Solid Retail, an international retail technology software company operating in 10 countries, and headquartered in Bentonville. A tenant for the smaller building has not been determined.

“There is high demand for cool, small to medium spaces within the Arts District. Especially from specialized design and tech firms,” Esterer said.

Mathes is CEO of Kansas City, Mo.-based Vanguard Packaging, the property’s most recent tenant. Vanguard relocated its Bentonville office to a new address in the city earlier this year. Mathes acquired the property in 2013 for $1.3 million.

The new owners plan to brand the building The 502 with renovated façade, lighting and signage. Bates Architects is assisting with the design, and Red 5 Construction of Bentonville is leading the building renovation.

• Applejack Acquisition
A Fayetteville real estate development firm has added to its land holdings near downtown Bentonville with a $732,000 purchase. Specialized Real Estate Group, through its Applejack LLC, purchased two commercial lots totaling 0.56 acres at 908-910 E. Central Ave. The purchase price equals $30.01 per square foot.

Octopus Messaging Inc., led by Heather Wegner, was the seller. The property was listed by Steve Fineberg, owner of Steve Fineberg & Associates Inc. of Bentonville. City Title & Closing LLC of Fayetteville was the title agent.

The property is due east of Casey’s General Store at 100 S.E. J St. It’s also in close proximity to 11.22 acres acquired earlier this year by SREG for $6.18 million. SREG made deals with 10 separate property owners to assemble the 14 parcels of land, according to real estate filings. The land was rezoned in February by the Bentonville City Council to a planned unit development (PUD), paving the way for a multimillion-dollar mixed-use development.