FAYETTEVILLE -- The former Mountain Inn property, now nothing more than a parking lot and ramshackle building downtown along College Avenue, has a new owner.
A Mountain Home company operating under the name NWAP LLC closed on the property between Mountain and Center streets on Wednesday for $1.1 million, according to Washington County property records.
Company representatives said Thursday a mixed-use hotel, condominium and retail project with a parking deck is planned.
The Bank of Fayetteville paid $1.25 million for the foreclosed property in November after East Square Development, whose primary investors were John Nock and Richard Alexander, defaulted on a $3.9 million loan.
Nock and Alexander had plans for a high-rise hotel and condo project called the Renaissance Tower on the roughly 1-acre site, but nothing was built. The developers in 2005 demolished the Mountain Inn Motor Lodge, which operated for decades but had sat vacant and in disrepair along Mountain Street since the late 1990s.
Ed McGill, a business associate of the owners of NWAP, and Tom Jordan, the buyers' real estate agent, verified Thursday the deal was done. Both declined to name the owners of the company.
The project has yet to be designed, and, Jordan said, "It may be two years before construction starts."
McGill said any development would replace the parking lot created after the Mountain Inn was razed. It would also use the vacant building at the corner of Center Street and College Avenue, next to Damgoode Pies.
"I believe because of its age, and the historical nature of the building, it would remain and be incorporated in the project," McGill said.
Darien Wells, a commercial loan officer who represented the Bank of Fayetteville on the project, didn't return a phone call and email seeking comment Thursday. Ramsay Ball, listing agent for the property with Colliers International, said he was happy to see the transaction go through, but didn't want to speak for bank representatives.
Steve Clark, president and CEO of the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce, said Thursday he was overjoyed to hear the property sold.
"We're thrilled," Clark said. "If it's a multiuse plan, that's excellent for the walkable, pedestrian-friendly, 21st century urban design that fits this community."
NW News on 06/27/2014