LEKS LLC, a limited liability company based in Cerritos, Calif., paid $1.14 million last month to acquire the building and property of a Burger King on Maumelle Boulevard near a North Little Rock Wal-Mart Supercenter.
The 2,800 square foot Burger King was built in 2008.
The last appraised value of the building and property was $1.5 million.
Flis Enterprises owns the Burger King, one of 21 that the firm owns in Arkansas. Dominic Flis, president of Flis Enterprises, said the sale-leaseback deal is the fourth he's done with his restaurants this year.
"We continue to be tenants," Flis said. "There's a market out there [for sale-leasebacks]. It's a form of financing for restaurant people."
An attempt to reach Shiingwue Cheng, the managing member of LEKS, was unsuccessful.
The Burger King deal is one of at least three recent restaurant transactions in Pulaski County.
STEAK HOUSES
A Saltgrass Steak House restaurant is planned for a parcel near the Bass Pro Shop and the Outlets of Little Rock near Interstate 30 and Interstate 430.
National Retail Properties LP, an Orlando, Fla., limited partnership, paid $1.12 million for about 1.5 acres, which will be developed into a Saltgrass restaurant. Saltgrass is based in Houston and owned by Landry's Inc.
The seller was Bass Pro Outdoor World LLC
The property was appraised at about $670,000.
National Retail Properties signed a restriction agreement with Bass Pro Outdoor World LLC preventing the operation of competitor steakhouses within 1,000 feet of the Saltgrass Steak House. The competitor restaurants were defined as Outback Steakhouses, Texas Roadhouse, Logan's Roadhouse, Longhorn Steakhouse or Texas Land and Cattle Steak House. Any other steakhouse restaurant that has sales of 25 percent or more of all food sales being steak or prime rib also was prevented from locating within 1,000 feet.
A Saltgrass Steak House also is planned on Warden Road in Sherwood. Both are scheduled to open in the next several months.
DOWNTOWN DIGS
Ramacoop Management LLC bought a 10,500 square foot, two-story building at 610-614 Center St. in downtown Little Rock last month from Richardson Properties of Maumelle.
Ramacoop paid $950,000 for the building.
The property is mixed-use, said Steve Tracy, vice president of real estate for Richardson Properties.
There are five apartments on the second floor, three two-bedroom units and two one-bedroom units.. There also is a restaurant-pub and a commercial space.
Ramacoop Management is led by Jay Cooper and Srinivasan Ramaswamy, a Little Rock physician.
The partners bought the building as an investment property, said Cooper, who is co-owner of Advanced Physical Therapy, which has offices in Little Rock, North Little Rock and Cabot.
They financed the purchase with a $760,000 mortgage that matures in 2037. The lender was Little Rock's One Bank & Trust.
Cooper and Ramaswamy may decide to leave the building as it is, Cooper said. But if they can't find a tenant to lease the commercial space in a few months, Ramacoop may decide to renovate that 2,000 square feet space into a residence, Cooper said.
"We have an architect and a construction company to see what the cost of doing that would be," Cooper said.
The structure was built in 1920, Cooper said. Keith Richardson, owner of Richardson Properties, completely renovated the building, Cooper said.
"He brought everything up to code and made it beautiful," Cooper said. "It reminds me of [buildings in] New Orleans. [Buying the building] was a no-brainer. There's nothing that has to be done to it. And it has good cash flow."
ELEMENTARY DEAL
Community Health Centers of Arkansas Inc. bought the vacant Franklin Elementary School at 1701 Harrison St. for $895,000 last month.
The school, built in 2003, has almost 70,000 square feet and sits on 10 acres.
The school closed last school year as part of a cost-cutting plan for the Little Rock School District.
The closing of schools in the district and the construction and updating of others comes at a time when the district is facing the loss of $37.3 million in annual state desegregation funding after this school year.
Community Health Centers agreed to pay $179,000 in cash and execute a note, secured by a first mortgage on the property for the remaining $716,000. Then four more payments of $179,000 each will be made on the anniversary date of the closing.
NEW WENDY'S
Hamra Realty LLC of Little Rock paid $875,000 last month for the property and building of a Wendy's restaurant in Maumelle at 120 Carnahan Drive.
McNeely-Eubanks Enterprises, an Indiana partnership, was the seller.
Fourjay LLC of North Little Rock is the franchisee for the Wendy's restaurant. It owns 49 restaurants in Arkansas.
The franchisee stays the same but there's a new landlord, said Mark Bingham, a real estate agent with RPM Realty.
"[Hamra Realty] knew the value of the property, knew the owners and felt very comfortable buying it and continuing a long-term lease arrangement with them," Bingham said. "It was an investment buy for them."
Hamra Realty financed the purchase with a mortgage of almost $745,000 from Malvern National Bank. The mortgage matures in 2032.
The fast food restaurant, built in 1991, originally was owned by the late Gerald Hamra of Little Rock, one of the most successful Wendy's franchisees in the country.
MORGAN PROPERTY
Ashley Partners Construction LLC of North Little Rock bought 22.5 undeveloped acres last month from Delta-Coleman Inc. and Fendley Properties Inc.
The property fronts Interstate 40 on the north and Smalling Road near the Morgan-Maumelle exit.
The sale price was $480,000.
Ashley Partners has no definitive plans for the property now, said Todd Ashley, manager of the company.
"We have some mixed use ideas we're working on," Ashley said. "Possibly some single-family homes with an area that would be light commercial or maybe some multifamily in there. We're not sure."
Ashley Partners financed the purchase with a $391,000 mortgage with Rison-based Gateway Bank.
SundayMonday Business on 09/24/2017