Historic downtown Fayetteville building sold to local investors for $1 million

by Paul Gatling ([email protected]) 3,257 views 

Constructed in 1886, the two-story Guisinger Building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

The historic Guisinger Building on the southeast corner of the square in downtown Fayetteville has a new owner.

A group of investors, using the name DPS Ventures LLC, paid $1 million for the 6,700-square-foot building at 1 E. Mountain St. The deed was filed at the Washington County Courthouse on Dec. 21. The purchase price equals $149.25 per square foot.

Signature Bank of Arkansas provided financing. Sterling Hamilton, an associate with commercial real estate firm Sage Partners in Rogers, brokered the deal. He identified one of the new owners as Fayetteville real estate executive Dale Carlton, owner of Carlton Realty Inc. The company will occupy the top floor of the building.

“We are pursuing a leasing strategy for the remainder of the building, about 4,500 square feet,” Hamilton said. “So far, the owners have not advertised a lease rate but are looking for a tenant who fits the vision of historic preservation while contributing to the economic vitality of downtown Fayetteville.”

The building was previously owned by Bobby Lee Odom, who bought the building in 1982 to house his law firm, known as Odom, Elliott, Lee and Martin. It evolved to its present name, Odom Law Firm, about a decade ago. Late last summer, the firm relocated to a former medical office building at 161 W. Van Asche Drive in Fayetteville in the Twin Creeks Village development.

Constructed in 1886, the two-story Guisinger Building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

The building takes its name from Ivan Guisinger, who operated a music store in several Fayetteville locations before moving into the building in 1925. When he died in 1947, his sons continued the business until 1981.