Oklahoma cannabis operator pays seven figures for ‘Zweig’ building in Fayetteville

A seven-figure sale of a Class A office building on North College Avenue in Fayetteville closed recently, and the new tenant is, apparently, an Oklahoma cannabis operator.

Fayetteville entrepreneur Mark Zweig sold the single-story building at 1200 N. College Ave., according to county property records. Zweig owned the building through eponymous development and construction firm Mark Zweig Inc. The company leases the 6,859-square-foot building to Zweig Group, a media, publishing and consulting company for the architecture and engineering industries. Zweig sold his interests in that business — which started as Mark Zweig & Associates in Boston in 1988 — in late 2018.

Zweig paid $350,000 for the dilapidated building in 2013, then spent a couple of years renovating the property into a modern office building. Oklahoma businessman Bill Thurman, through a limited liability company, is the property’s new owner. He paid $1.59 million for the building ($232.54 per square foot), according to county records. Little Rock-based Central Bank, which has a branch in Bentonville, provided financing.

Thurman is the founder and chairman of Redbird Bioscience, a medical cannabis cultivation and processing facility. The business is headquartered in a 38-acre former Tyson Foods facility in Stilwell, Okla. Founded in 2018, Redbird produces products for licensed dispensaries throughout the state of Oklahoma.

Thurman could not be reached for comment. In an interview earlier this year, however, published at industry publication newcannabisventures.com, Thurman told reporter Carrie Pallardy that Redbird is onboarding its C-suite management group, who will be headquartered initially in Fayetteville.

So, where does that leave Zweig Group? President and CEO Chad Clinehens said the company’s lease was due to expire in August, and the building sale won’t affect operations since most employees are still working from home due to COVID-19.

“We were already considering a move in Fayetteville,” he said. “We have temporary space for the staff who prefers to work in the office and are continuing our search for a larger, permanent space in Fayetteville as we prepare to bring our staff back into the office.”

Clinehens said Zweig Group has 18 employees in Fayetteville and seven in Dallas. The company opened a Dallas office in September 2018, and recently expanded to a new address on the 65th floor of the 72-story Bank of America building, the city’s tallest building.

Zweig Group also has telecommuting staff in New Orleans and Kansas City, Mo.