Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Boutique hotel has Bentonville plans
BENTONVILLE — The Planning Commission on Tuesday night approved a permit for a boutique hotel.
The property is on vacant land at 609 and 610 S.E. E St., according to planning documents. The property was rezoned from downtown mixed-use residential to downtown edge at the meeting. The permit was needed because of the zoning.
Kasita is a billed as contemporary upscale boutique hotel. Kasita will begin to open its first hotels in 2020 in locations including Austin, Texas, and Nashville, Tenn., and is pursuing hotel projects in Portland, Ore., San Antonio and San Diego, according to a letter from Ecological Design Group of Rogers. The letter was included in the planning documents.
The project will consist of a two-story structure housing the common room, a pool house and pool, a patio, and between 39 to 42 single-story structures of about 360 square feet each, grouped two to four structures together, according to documents.
The occupancy rate will average of 32 to 34 guests at any given time, according to documents.
The permit is valid for one year and is contingent upon development application and approval.
The commission also tabled a waiver for a shipping container park with a mix of commercial uses adjacent to the Walmart Supercenter, 406 S. Walton Blvd. The waiver dealt with percentages in relation to building material.
Cypress Acquisitions, the applicant, and Walmart are partnering on a new outdoor food hall concept — fashioned out of repurposed shipping containers — to offer a unique dining, boutique shopping and live entertainment, according to the applicant.
Cameron Aderhold with Cypress, based in Dallas, asked the waiver be tabled so more complete design numbers could be brought before the commission. The company did a similar shipping container project in Spanish Fort, Ala., he told the commission.
The 1.71 acres is at the southeast corner of the Walmart parking lot. A development plan for the project hasn’t been submitted to planners.
Planning Commissioner Rod Sanders said he liked the shipping container park idea.
“It’s a great concept,” he said. “It’s something we need. We need to develop different city centers, different places to gather.”
The commission also approved development for the city’s maintenance annex facility. The 3.25 acres is southeast of the intersection of Southwest 24th Street and Southwest Aviation Street, according to documents.
The plan calls for a 6,000-square-foot office, a 3,000-square-foot storage building, and a 4,000-squarefoot maintenance bay.