Ridge estates dispute

Arkansas Business, May 4, 2009

A debt of $422,795.25 that was due Jan. 13 may cost developers property in which they invested many times that amount.

One Bank & Trust of Little Rock has filed a foreclosure suit in Pulaski County Circuit Court on property owned by MW Properties LLC of Little Rock, led by Nick McDaniel and John Williams. JW & Associates, which Williams leads, is also named as a defendant.

The group had plans to develop the Ridge Estates Subdivision on 60 acres off Vimy Ridge Road in south Little Rock. The development has now all but fallen through, and the developers are blaming poor engineering work.

In total, the developers invested $2.6 million in the property, including issuing bonds.

The plans drawn up by the original engineer, Troy Laha of Laha Engineers Inc. of Little Rock, didn't include required items like underground power, sidewalks and handicap ramps and street lights, McDaniel told us.

McDaniel said he and Williams did not notice the omissions because they had previously developed property in rural areas without such strict requirements.

"We would have never bought that project had [Laha] given us the correct numbers to begin with," McDaniel said. "The project would have never worked from the beginning, and he didn't give us numbers to make a decision on."

Laha denies the allegation.

"I can't tell you what they would have done," said Laha, who serves on the Little Rock Planning Commission. "But all that stuff was on there."

The Ridge Estates' developers had their attorney, Steven Niswanger of Little Rock, write a letter to Laha and several city agencies outlining their complaints about Laha's work.

The letter, dated June 6, 2008, asked that Laha buy the subdivision for $3 million within two weeks. Laha didn't go for the idea, and McDaniel and Williams haven't filed any sort of litigation against Laha.

Niswanger would not comment.