FAYETTEVILLE — The old post office building in the center of the downtown square is back on the market.
Mark Risk, listing agent for the 101-year-old building, said Tuesday the property is no longer under contract. Risk declined to identify the private buyer who was interested in the property or how they proposed to use it.
Building Zone
The old post office building, which is listed on the National register of Historic Places, is zoned Main Street/Center. The designation allows for a wide range of uses, including cultural, recreational and government facilities; residential dwellings; restaurants; hotels; retail stores; and offices.
Source: Staff Report
He said the roughly 5,600-square-foot space would have fit the buyers needs, and the buyer had the money to purchase it.
He couldn't get the legal rights for what he wanted to do, Risk said.
According to him, the buyer had been under contract with building owner Ron Bumpass since November and had until March to close on the deal. Bumpass family has owned the old post office building since 1976. It is held in trust in his name.
Risk said the buyers offer was less than the $1.5 million Bumpass asked for when the property was listed in August and less than the $1.3 million it is being advertised for now.
The owners are very motivated to sell, Risk said. They're going to entertain any reasonable offer.
He said other people have shown interest in the property during the past six months. Ideas have included an upscale steakhouse, an open-air market and a tribal casino, Risk said. The Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce had the property appraised in 2006.
In December 2011, Advertising and Promotion commissioners agreed to pursue a $5,000-per-month lease with an option to buy the building for $1 million after one year. Marilyn Heifner, commission executive director, envisioned the building as meeting and event space and as a home for the Fayetteville Underground artists collective. Bumpass made a $7,500-per-month counteroffer with a sale price of $1.5 million.
Commissioners in April offered Bumpass $730,000, based on a March 15 appraisal by Parrish Appraisals. Bumpass refused the offer.
Private appraisals have ranged from $730,000 to $2.1 million. The Washington County Assessors Office publicly appraised the property for $541,550 in 2010.
Risk said if Bumpass had his choice, he would like to see the old post office used as some type of historical museum.
I really think the city should buy that building, Risk said.
There isnt a building like it in Northwest Arkansas, he added.
The building served as a working post office from 1911 to 1972, according to newspaper accounts at the time. The Old Post Office and Gathering Place restaurant and club, operated by Bumpass and Keith Cearley, opened in 1977. A series of restaurants have occupied the building during the past 16 years, the last of which, Urban Table Bar & Grill, closed January 2009.