Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Rogers wants to be NWA’s ‘downtown’
Several projects in works
ROGERS — The city strives for the area around the Walmart Arkansas Music Pavilion to become the “downtown” of Northwest Arkansas, a city leader said.
Rogers’ goal is for the “uptown” part of the city to be like a downtown for the region, said John McCurdy, community development director.
The city about two years ago moved to a form-based code for that area of the city. The code allows developers to construct buildings for several uses as long as they fit the city’s standards for size and distance from the road, for example. The intent of moving to a formbased code was to encourage mixed-use developments instead of separating housing, office space, retail and restaurants, McCurdy said.
Many cities in the United States, including Rogers, began designating different areas for different uses in the 1940s and 1950s.
“That led to sprawl,” McCurdy said.
Now, Rogers and other cities are moving back toward policies allowing people to live, work and play in the same area. McCurdy said the goal is for residents to be able to walk to a grocery store from their apartments instead of having to drive, for example.
The city is trying to discourage single-use, single story developments, such as strip malls, and opt for mixed-use, multiple story buildings, he said.
Several projects spanning entertainment, residential, office and commercial are in the works.
OFFICES, RETAIL AND MORE
One Uptown is under construction on about 2 acres at the corner of South Champions Drive and West Pauline Whitaker Parkway. The development will include offices, retail space and at least one restaurant.
Property owner Laurice Hachem said One Uptown will be completed by early May, she said.
Hachem has four potential clients for office space, but wouldn’t name them. She said she’s negotiating with an unnamed steak and seafood
restaurant she described as “upscale.” The restaurant will be on the third floor of the three-story building and include rooftop seating, she said.
The 64,000-square-foot building will sit on about two of the 21 continuous acres owned by Hachem. Her next venture will be two more office buildings on the property, she said. Hachem would like each building to be three stories with 20,000 to 25,000 square feet per floor.
Developer Alex Blass is working on two buildings that will make up the Bellview Urban Center on Bellview Road behind the Pinnacle Hills Promenade Mall. Blass will break ground next month on the first 40,000-square-foot building, which will include warehouse and office space, with plans to open in summer 2020, he said.
Blass’ company, Rodden Landscaping Co., will be one of the tenants, and he’s working with three other tenants he wouldn’t name because they haven’t signed leases. The second building will include office, retail and restaurant space, Blass said.
HOUSING AND MORE
Another project, Uptown Square, gained Planning Commission approval on its eighth try in February. The residential development will neighbor Pinnacle Country Club, and some neighbors opposed the project because it was mostly a large multiresidential project. Developers then added more retail and commercial space.
The development is to have 260 multifamily units, 20,000 square feet of retail space and 7,500 square feet of office space on 13 acres between South Champions Drive and South Pinnacle Hills Parkway.
Site work on Pinnacle Village, which will include townhouses, apartments, office and retail space and several amenities, will begin in November, said Blass, a representative for the project. Pinnacle Village will be on 27 acres east of Pinnacle Hills Parkway and south of Pauline Whitaker Parkway, directly south of the Walmart Neighborhood Market.
Blass expects site work to take 10 months to a year before construction will start on buildings.
The development will include space for food trucks, a clubhouse, tennis and basketball courts, a pool, a dog park, a hotel and two parking garages.
Blass has said the goal is for Pinnacle Village to be a walkable community with a focus on entertainment.
Construction on another mixed-use project, Pinnacle Heights, began in December on about 13 acres off South Champions Drive. Tom Allen of Sage Partners, one of the developers, said Pinnacle Heights would include a hotel and restaurant, retail space, a 300-unit apartment complex with a pool and fitness center and 10 live/work units that can rent as both residential and office or work space. There also will be space for parks, an amphitheater and food trucks. Allen estimated it would take about two years to complete the development.
The area needs more housing, especially more affordable housing, McCurdy said. The city can help encourage less expensive rental properties by allowing developers to build several stories high with more units. He said if developers have more tenants, they can make the same profit as having fewer tenants and charging higher rent.
ENTERTAINMENT AND DINING
In light of the development in the area, Rogers plans to add a bus stop near the AMP in about a year, McCurdy said. The bus stop will be a part of Ozark Regional Transit’s route and will make it easier to get from downtown to uptown, to concerts at the AMP and to the mall, he said.
“Ozark Regional Transit and its staff is poised and ready to assist each of the cities we provide service in with route and infrastructure planning and execution,” according to an email from Joel Gardner, executive director. “Our goal is to provide transit access as an alternative form of transportation for the residents of Northwest Arkansas regardless of their need.”
Walton Arts Center officials in November announced the AMP would expand in time for its 2020 concert series. Walton Arts Center owns the venue. The expansion will allow up to 11,000 people to attend concerts, an increase from 10,000 people. The expansion will include a new box office and an expanded main entry plaza with more concession stands and restrooms, among other projects.
An entertainment venue and several restaurants are also set to pop up around the AMP.
Texas-based Topgolf expects to open its first Arkansas location in 2020, said Morgan Schaaf, spokeswoman. The venue offers food, beverages, music and a driving range for point-scoring golf games using microchipped balls. The project is under construction on about 11 acres north of Pauline Whitaker Parkway and west of Interstate 49. The company previously said the project would create 300 fulltime and part-time jobs, and have 250,000 customers.
The City Council over the past few months has also approved plans for Torchy’s Tacos on West Pauline Whitaker Parkway; Saltgrass Steakhouse on South JB Hunt Drive; Louisiana-based Cajun food restaurant Walk-On’s on South J.B. Hunt Drive; and Culver’s, which serves burgers and frozen custard, on West New Hope Road.
Torchy’s and Saltgrass will open in late 2019 and employ about 150 and 100 employees, respectively, spokeswomen for the companies said. Culver’s will open spring 2020 and employ 70-80 people, a spokesman said. A representative for Walk-On’s didn’t respond to a request Friday for comment.