With no interested buyers for an Arkadelphia strip mall, a court-appointed receiver now has the option to sell the property

By JOEL PHELPS | arkadelphian.com

Clark County Circuit Clerk Brian Daniel opened the bidding process Wednesday morning in the courthouse lobby, but had no interested buyers.

The property up for auction was Arkadelphia Plaza, located at 112 W.P. Malone Dr. whose owner in recent months defaulted on the strip mall’s mortgage.

The defaulted company remains the target of a federal lawsuit, as well as a handful of other lawsuits, while its CEO, Jonathan Larmore, is accused of misusing investors’ cash on a lavish lifestyle — including a $100,000 birthday party for his Boston Terrier, real estate news blog The Real Deal reported in June.

RELATED: Arkadelphia Plaza under new management; former owner implicated in embezzlement

Daniel opened the auction at a low bid of $2.6 million. Aside from a deputy clerk, a news reporter and an attorney representing the receiver, the auction fell on deaf ears.

Ownership of the 11-storefront plaza now falls to the Little Rock-based FSNB SUB 4 LLC, the mortgage holder that in recent months filed a foreclosure suit after the former owner, ArciTerra Group, accrued $2.45 million in debt.

Following Wednesday’s auction, FSNB SUB 4 now has lawful possession of the property and has the option to market the strip mall to prospective buyers.