Springfield developer plans multimillion-dollar Arkansas resort

A Springfield developer has put in motion plans to build a $3.9 million fly fishing resort along the White River in Cotter, Ark.

Steve Stinnett, who owns SL Stinnett Co. and formed Seasons on the White LLC for the resort, said the Arkansas development, dubbed Seasons on the White Lodge, would include 30 suites, a restaurant, seven private riverfront cabins, a pool, a boat dock, a professional fly shop, fly fishing classes and a team of professional guides.

Stinnett, who is a fly fisherman himself, has been planning the development in earnest for a couple of years and began seeking zoning approvals last year.

“As I’ve become more accustomed to the area during the last several years, I thought there was a nice niche in the Cotter area for a luxury fly fishing resort,” he said. “It’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time.”

Stinnett has entered into a contract and anticipates closing in March on the purchase of a five-acre tract of land along the river, which was rezoned late last year by the city of Cotter to commercial from light industrial.

Construction, led by Mountain Home, Ark.-based general contractor Americom Construction Co. Inc., is scheduled to begin in May, and Stinnett expects the development to be completed in January 2013.

Stinnett said he is working with two Mountain Home lenders and a private investor to finance the project, though he declined to name them.

“I feel very confident in the economy,” he said of the projected timeline.

Stinnett has entered into an agreement with Springfield-based O’Reilly Hospitality Management to manage the property. He said he’d taken notice of Yellowstone Valley Lodge, a property OHM manages near Yellowstone National Park in Livingston, Mont. Fly fishing is among the property’s amenities, Stinnett said, noting that he had discussions with OHM CEO Tim O’Reilly and Chief Development Officer Scott Tarwater.

“They had a track record there,” Stinnett said. “Tim and I, and Scott Tarwater, discussed that with the property in Montana as well as the one in Arkansas, both projects would create kind of a synergy.”

O’Reilly and Tarwater could not be reached for comment by press time.

Stinnett also was the developer behind 65 Marketplace in Ozark, and he recently was involved in the development of the B&B Theatres multiplex cinema in Ozark.

He said cabins at the Arkansas resort would be available for purchase starting at $237,000 and its lots start at $89,900. Stinnett said he has closed on the sales of two lots, and is finalizing the sale of a third.

Those who opt to build their own cabins would need to adhere to certain exterior designs, he said. Stinnett noted that cabin construction costs aren’t included in the $3.9 million project projection.

Cabin owners also could elect to be part of a rental program, where third parties could rent the cabins for $275 per night, and proceeds would be split between the cabin owners and SL Stinnett Co., Stinnett said.  

Suites would range from $105 to $225 per night.

Springfield-based Pellham Phillips Architects and Engineers and Jeffrey Jackson, of Mountain Home, are the architects for the project.[[In-content Ad]]