Walmart’s outline for campus approved

Plan includes more space for parking

BENTONVILLE — The Bentonville Planning Commission on Tuesday unanimously approved plans related to Walmart’s new home office campus.

Walmart Inc., the multinational retail giant whose headquarters is in Bentonville, is building a 350-acre campus that will include walking paths, lakes and a child-care center.

As part of the regulatory process, the applicant requested the planning commission’s approval of property originally a railroad right of way to be included in the development. The inclusion of the railroad right of way will add two parking decks, an additional commercial building and one surface parking lot to the original planned-unit development, according to documents. The amendment was approved 6-0.

The property is generally bounded by East Central Avenue to the north, Southeast Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway and Southeast Moberly Lane to the east, Southeast 14th Street to the south and Southeast J Street to the west, according to planning documents.

The campus will have 13 commercial buildings, 12 parking decks and nine surface parking lots. The development is divided into five zones to be constructed in three phases. The development will provide 11,255 parking spaces, according to planning documents.

The development depicts 108 acres of open space, or 47% of the project area, according to planning documents.

The large-scale plan for Zone 1 of the campus also was approved 6-0 Tuesday.

The property involved in the large-scale development are on the north and south sides of Southeast Eighth Street, between Southeast J Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway.

The zone includes four parking decks, five office buildings, two surface parking lots and an auditorium. The development will include a connection to the Razorback Greenway and a pedestrian access tunnel under Southeast Eighth Street.