FAYETTEVILLE — The much-debated Ruskin Heights development off Mission Boulevard faces an uncertain future after Metropolitan National Bank assumed ownership of the 29-acre foreclosed property.
A city official said all building permits for the site, where roads and utilities have been installed, have expired and the extensive plans that made up the planned zoning district’s approval are also defunct. Any development proposal will have to go through the public zoning process with the city.
“We were hoping it was going to be a very successful project,” said Andrew Garner, a senior planner for Fayetteville. “We felt like it was very well-designed, and it did meet the goals of our City Plan 2025. It just didn’t happen.”
Garner said the project, with plans for townhomes, condos, parks and space available for retail stores and restaurants, would have fit well with the city’s plan for reducing sprawl.
Little Rock-based Metropolitan assumed ownership of the property earlier this month.
In November, the bank foreclosed on Ruskin Heights LLC, the company behind plans for a 295-residential unit development on Mission Boulevard. The two-phase project included nearly 60,000 square feet of available retail space.
At that time, Washington County Circuit Court Judge Mary Ann Gunn ordered the company to pay Metropolitan National Bank about $9.8 million, which includes the principal balance for a 2007 loan from the bank plus accrued interest.
Gunn’s judgment applies only to the company and not to the individual developers listed in the foreclosure hearing — William Benton Jr., J. Kevin Adams, Edward Labry III, John Brittingham, Edward Davis and Dirk Van Veen.
According to court documents filed earlier this week, the property was sold to the bank on the Washington County Courthouse steps Dec. 13, following foreclosure.
The about $1.1 million purchase amount is to be subtracted from what was owed to the bank.
Metropolitan National Bank filed the foreclosure lawsuit in August 2009.
The bank on Thursday declined comment on any plans for the property going forward.
Todd Lewis, a Fayetteville attorney representing Ruskin Heights and several of the individual developers, did not return repeated phone calls.
The city issued construction permits for the development in 2007, but they expired earlier this year, Garner said.
The property is a planned zoning district, meaning its zoning and specific development plans are linked. With expiration of zoning approval, the land exists in a bit of regulatory limbo. Any future landowner will have to go through a new public zoning process to begin new development.
Don Conner, president of the Root Elementary Neighborhood Association, has been a vocal opponent of the development for years.
He said Thursday he and many of his neighbors were not opposed to any development in the area but the high-density subdivision planned did not match the character of the neighborhood.
“We didn’t want a bunch of real tight, close housing right next to us,” Conner said.
For now, the land lies vacant with utility lines and roads that were extended in the area.