Mountain Inn Location Holds Great Potential

It's easy, because of its status as one of Fayetteville's most colossal private development failures, to forget just how much potential the land at Mountain Street and College Avenue in Fayetteville holds for downtown.

Those who have been around Fayetteville and Northwest Arkansas for more than a few years will know the location as a portion of the former Mountain Inn, a once-celebrated hotel in the core of the community that transformed over the years into an ugly and dangerous eyesore. What had once been a gathering place for socializing and politicking crumbled into a graffiti-laden, urine-scented mess after it closed and became a regular haunt for the homeless, thrill-seekers and criminal activities.

It's a wonder the entire block didn't burn to the ground. But no, this run-down albatross hung around downtown Fayetteville, a daily testament to how inattention becomes active deterioration, not just of the building, but of the blocks surrounding it.

That's why there was such excitement for downtown Fayetteville starting in 2004 when private developers proposed a multimillion-dollar, high-rise hotel and condo project on that corner. Likewise, local leaders were as excited at the prospect of seeing the old Mountain Inn disappear.

The City Council felt so strongly about the structure's removal it took the novel step of creating what's called a "tax-increment finance district." In simple terms, the district is a mechanism that allows some portion of property taxes generated by properties within its borders to be used for community purposes, such as the removal of blight. The city purchased the building and land and paid for demolition with a total of $3.7 million in bonds, all to be paid back with property tax revenue through the TIF district. The developers then bought the land for $300,000 to build the Renaissance Hotel.

There was no renaissance, however. A dormant crane loomed over the site for more than a year. Financial challenges, aggravated by the nation's economic conditions, delayed and then killed the project. The site became a parking lot, and the remaining building on the site, facing Center Street, had its backside exposed. It's not as ugly as the old Mountain Inn property, but it's not attractive at all.

That's where the land has been stuck for several years. Now, word comes an interested buyer has made an offer the listing agent calls a "serious prospect." Again, it's not hard to get one's hopes up. The parties aren't giving specifics, but the pending sale should be viewed as good news. That property doesn't need to be a parking lot. It can be -- and we hope it will be -- the location of a major contributor to downtown vitality.

We're eager to find out what a new owner might have in mind and to see if it meets with downtown Fayetteville's unique sensitivities. It's probably not a Kum & Go or Casey's General Store, and it's too expensive to become a courtyard for mobile food vendors. At least, we hope it is.

The grand plan of the mid-2000s didn't work out, so some will be immediately skeptical on any new project. But anyone interested in the long-term health of downtown Fayetteville should have high hopes a new day is dawning at Mountain Street and College Avenue.