 |
||
 |
||
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
 |
||
 |
 |
|
 |
||
 |
||
About 20 years ago, I attended a Christmas party at the modest Pine Bluff home of the Rev. Christoph Keller III and his wife, Julie. Chris was curate at the downtown Episcopalian church and Julie was a co-worker of mine at the Pine Bluff Commercial - as was her brother, Tom Honeycutt, who would become the second editor of Arkansas Business. I don't remember anything about the party except this: Julie Keller had a complete set of Christmas china. I had never known anyone with Christmas china, and the fact that a young couple still in their 20s owned something so extravagant just blew my mind. Who has money for such frivolous stuff? Many years later I figured out that Chris Keller was an heir to the Murphy Oil Corp. fortune. Then I wondered why Julie was working for peanuts (believe me, it was peanuts) at the Commercial. She should have been in a much bigger house, ordering the servants to dust the Christmas china. I was reminded of Julie Keller's holiday buffet while touring Warren Stephens' new golf course west of Little Rock. Untold millions of dollars have been spent on what is, ultimately, a playground for Stephens and a select membership of serious (and wealthy) golfers. Extravagant? Frivolous? Well, sure it is. But Warren Stephens can afford it, so why not? I'm absolutely certain that there are avid golfers reading these words whose golf habits are far more of a strain on the family budget than Alotian is on Stephens'. If your hobbies keep you from fully funding your 401(k) or your kids' college accounts, you are not allowed to grumble about Warren's new toy. I also think it is worth noting that before he broke ground on his ultra-exclusive golf course, Stephens' family fortune paid for the construction of the most affordable golf course in the state, The First Tee of Arkansas, where shooting nine holes of golf is cheaper than going to a movie. I'm told that only one other First Tee course in the country compares with the one in Little Rock. The Stephenses have given away more money than any 100 mere mortals will ever earn. The great thing about Alotian is that it is an extravagance that will continue to give into perpetuity. How many permanent jobs Warren and his well-heeled pals will create is not clear, but you can bet that its payroll will exceed that of Little Rock's new Krispy Kreme. And how many potential investors in our state will get their first exposure to Arkansas from an invitation to play a round at Alotian? Alotian is an Arkansas business story if ever there was one. With the exception of the golf course designer (Tom Fazio of North Carolina) and the clubhouse architect (Mark P. Finlay of Connecticut), virtually all of Alotian is home-grown. CDI Contractors LLC of Little Rock is building the clubhouse and three guest cottages. P. Allan Smith of Little Rock was hired to design the plantings. The Zoysia grass for the fairways is all Arkansas-grown, and Green Tree Nursery of Little Rock had the landscape contract. The natural stone that helps channel runoff is from the Natural State - even the brilliant white sand in the traps is from Sheridan. I had no idea sand like that was available in-state. Millions upon millions of dollars have been spent on Alotian, and most of them stayed right here in the state. I really admire that; as we've reported at length, some wealthy Arkansans don't even want to pay state taxes. I will also say this for Warren Stephens: He is a man of his word. Several months ago, I was "leaked" some photos of Alotian taken by, well, a trespasser. I informed the Stephens organization that I had the photos but wouldn't publish them because I knew they were obtained illegally. A few days later, I received a letter from Warren - whom I had never met - in which he promised me that Arkansas Business would have the first chance to publish authorized photos of his breathtaking new course. As you can see, he kept his promise. Gwen Moritz is editor of Arkansas Business. E-mail her at gmoritz@abpg.com.
|
