Drawing from Dallas Rex Nelson

The New York Times recently published a story on how Dallas is America’s new boom town for high-end restaurants. “The crowds streaming into Highland Park Village are hungry for luxury,” Priya Krishna wrote. “At this open-air shopping center in suburban Dallas, they valet-park their Porsches, sport Yves Saint Laurent handbags, flit in and out of Audemars Piguet and pause for brunch at Sadelle’s, the fancy deli from Major Food Group in New York.”

During the pandemic, thousands of Americans deserted the East Coast and West Coast for cities where the weather was warmer and covid restrictions weren’t as stringent.

“No city has benefited from this shift quite like Dallas,” Krishna wrote. “From April 2020 to July 2021, the Dallas-Fort Worth area gained about 122,000 residents, more than any metro area in the nation, according to Census Bureau data. Some demographers predict that by the 2030s, Dallas—now the largest metropolis in Texas— could replace Chicago as the nation’s third-largest metro area.”

What does this have to do with Arkansas? A lot.

A century ago when Hot Springs was one of the nation’s top health resorts, wealthy Chicago residents took the train to the Spa City. Many of them spent the entire winter in Arkansas. Now, as the DFW Metroplex prepares to pass Chicago as the country’s third-largest metro area, Hot Springs finds itself less than a five-hour drive away.

The key to success for Hot Springs will be to have restaurants, hotels and attractions that can draw the high-dollar crowd. If the city can do that, it’s poised for another golden era.

“You have no idea the velocity of spending that happens in that market,” Julie Macklowe, founder of Macklowe American Single Malt Whiskey, said of the Metroplex. “It’s like the U.S.’s version of Dubai.”

With its plush hotel and improved dining options, Oaklawn can now compete for the big spenders. So can a few of the area’s bed-andbreakfast inns. But there must be more to create a critical mass of attractions. Magnolia native Alan Ribble, who has long been active in the oil and gas business in southwest Arkansas, understands.

I’m picked up by Ribble on this summer day along Central Avenue in downtown Hot Springs. We’ve driven less than three miles when we find ourselves in a Ouachita Mountain forest that seems much farther away from downtown traffic.

Ribble, in partnership with daughter and sonin-law Sarah and Lee Medley, purchased 540 acres that once belonged to Dierks Lumber & Coal (and later Weyerhaeuser). Sarah and Lee have moved from Texarkana to manage what’s known as In the Trees on a full-time basis.

The investors have built five cabins and five treehouses, upscale overnight accommodations on steel stilts. Depending on how business goes, there eventually will be between 35 and 70 cabins and treehouses. And I think business will go just fine. These aren’t ordinary cabins. They have a Fay Jones feel—think lots of glass; think bringing nature inside.

There are fireplaces and hot tubs. There are heated bathroom floors, outdoor decks, luxury bedding, luxury cookware in the kitchen. There are bags of corn to feed deer from the deck. There are owl houses on trees. Cabins have record players and old-fashioned vinyl records. Guests can pay extra for in-room massages and chefs.

Bikes are available for cycling (though many guests bring their own) since the nationally acclaimed Northwoods Trails are just down the road. I can see this place becoming popular with Texans, especially those who are cyclists. Lee and Sarah are both mountain bikers.

“We want people to be able to come here and connect with nature,” Lee Medley tells me. “Our occupancy rates have been above 80 percent since we opened. We have a five-year plan for In the Trees that will draw people’s attention.”

There will be an event center, a chapel for weddings, a fishing pond, restaurant, spa and swimming pool. The investors have hired a landscape architect to make sure the natural feel stays intact. They plan to add their own trail system throughout the 540 acres.

The In the Trees website reads: “Our cabins and treehouses are outfitted with relaxation and serenity in mind. One thing all our properties guarantee is a stunning view of the Ouachita Mountains. Whether you’re enjoying the scenery high up in the trees in one of our treehouses or 20 feet off the ground in a cabin, we guarantee complete immersion in nature.”

In Texarkana, Lee and Sarah were owners of Trova Real Estate Services. The company was involved in buying, selling, property management and even interior design. They know what they’re doing. In addition to their outdoor activities, both are avid readers.

The website states: “For the Medleys, books are an avenue to escape, relax and connect. In every cabin and treehouse, guests can find books— fiction, nonfiction, classics and even children’s books for the smallest bookworms. Take a book, leave a book, but most importantly, enjoy a book. Also notice the unique names of each unit at In the Trees. All are named after a character or scene in Aesop’s Fables.”

This must sound good to someone stuck in traffic on Central Expressway in Dallas on a 100-degree day.

After my visit to In the Trees, I have two other meetings that increase my optimism about the future of Hot Springs. The first is with Little Rock businessman Keith Holland, the new owner of the 200-room Hotel Hot Springs. The hotel opened in 1986 as a Hilton. It’s essential to the overall success of Hot Springs since it’s connected to the city’s convention center.

The hotel has had its ups and downs through the decades. After years as a Hilton property, it was named The Austin for Oklahoma owner William R. Austin until 2015. The hotel was purchased by shady developer Gary Gibbs, whose mountain of bad debt was largely responsible for the failure of First NBC Bank in New Orleans. Gibbs borrowed $123 million from the bank. The hotel went into receivership in 2018 with a debt of $23 million.

Holland has big plans, including new restaurants and a spa. He’s not ready to provide the details yet but says July was the best month in the history of the hotel, even without the improvements he has planned.

I later visit with a member of the Hot Springs Metro Partnership, the group marketing the former Majestic Hotel site at the north end of Central Avenue. Last November, the Hot Springs Board of Directors delegated marketing to that economic development group. The nonprofit organization is affiliated with the Greater Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce. I learn that several entities have shown interest in the site.

I don’t know who those entities are, but the ones that make the most sense to me are Tom and Steuart Walton’s Runway Group (a holding company that invests in real estate, outdoor initiatives and hospitality) and Jerry Jones’ Blue Star Land (which does projects in the Metroplex). I envision an architecturally significant structure that will include a boutique hotel, condominiums, restaurants and a world-class spa.

For the Walton brothers, who are focused on making Arkansas the nation’s mountain biking capital, it would offer the chance to construct a landmark facility connecting to the Northwoods Trails. For Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys, it would be his signature development back in his home state.

Tom and Steuart are sons of Jim Walton and grandsons of Walmart founder Sam Walton. According to Forbes, the Waltons are the richest family in America with an estimated net worth of almost $250 billion. Forbes estimates Jones’ net worth at $14.8 billion.

Regardless of whether it’s the Waltons, Jones or another developer, that empty Majestic lot remains among the most high-profile pieces of real estate in this part of the country. It must be handled correctly since our state will have to live for decades with whatever decision Hot Springs’ leaders make.

I hope those leaders envision something that will attract the Porsche and Yves Saint Laurent crowd from the Metroplex.