Construction resumes at Bellafont development

Arkansas Business, March 24, 2008

Construction has resumed in the last few weeks at Brandon Barber's Bellafont development.

The roof is being installed at the future home of Mellow Mushroom, a gourmet pizza franchise based in Atlanta with several locations across the Southeast.

The walls for the 53,000-SF retail center have long been poured and waiting at the site, and Emelia's has been signed as a future tenant for its second Fayetteville restaurant.

Flake & Kelley Commercial has signed on with Barber to handle leasing at the project. East Meets West Spa & Salon won't be moving into a 7,242-SF building, which is still incomplete long after a May 15, 2007, contractual deadline.

East Meets West has announced it will be opening its flagship location at The Shoppes at The Bluff, a Mathias Properties project, just north of the new Shogun restaurant on Steele Boulevard in Fayetteville. Groundbreaking is set for March 26.

East Meets West had a contract with Barber that would have generated $181,050 annually, and the contract also had a provision for a $1,000-perday penalty after May 15. Barber, CEO of The Barber Group, has previously said those fines had been worked out, and EMW is operating a satellite location at his Legacy Building in downtown Fayetteville.

East Meets West owner Helena Gadison sued Barber on Nov. 20 over delays and allegedly broken promises at Bellafont. Legacy National Bank of Springdale has foreclosed on the Legacy Building for an unpaid balance on two loans of $18.1 million.

Barber is also in a dispute with former general contractor Precept Builders Inc. of Dallas, which has filed for foreclosure on four lots at Bellafont for an unpaid claim of $924,082.

--Northwest Arkansas Business Journal staff