First Cooper cabins nearing completion
While the first pair are opening soon, construction is ongoing for a series of cabins at the corner of Kingsland Road and Kenilworth Drive.
Cooper Homes president Jody Latham said her firm is developing 12 of these 1,200 square foot cabins as rental units geared toward the mountain biking community, though she expects they will appeal to a wider audience.
“Since we don’t have a hotel, it’ll be awesome to get everybody together,” Latham said.” I think it’s something the village needed.”
The first two, she said, are expected to open for business Memorial Day — Monday, May 28 — of this year. Another four should be complete this fall, she said, and ideally the whole development will be complete within the next year.
Currently, she said, they’re set to accommodate as many as six guests. Each unit has a master bedroom as well as a second bedroom with a series of bunk beds. If the market looks like it will support it, she said, some units may be outfitted with bunk beds only to allow more guests in a single unit — which could allow larger groups of riders to use one unit.
The structures are fully furnished, she said, with a kitchen that includes a refrigerator, stove, pots and pans and glasses, as well as a living room with seating and a television, a laundry room with a washer and dryer as well as bicycle storage and a rear patio area — all decorated in what Latham described as a mix of industrial and farmhouse.
“I put my designer hat on instead of my developer hat,” she said.
Chris Howison with Vacation Rentals said he’s already had calls asking when the cabins will be available. Howison said he is not ready to announce rental rates for these units, though when the development is finished he expects to have rates not only for individual cabins but also to rent the entire neighborhood, which could be ideal for large groups.
Bella Vista doesn’t have many new rental properties like this, he said.
“This is huge,” Howison said. “This is going to appeal to family reunions, golf groups, obviously
the cyclist community. This is huge.”
Susan Rufo-Ewing wrote via Facebook these rentals could be useful for someone with more family visiting than they have beds for and the buildings look nicer than some existing structures in town.
“I bet there’s no criminals hiding in any of them. Just out of town bicyclers,” she wrote.
Another commenter, Jennifer Watkins wrote via Facebook that she lives roughly a quarter mile down the road from the in-progress development and she expects them to blend into the neighborhood. Watkins wrote that she appreciated the developer leaving trees alongside the road to screen the property.
“I don’t see them being much of a problem as long as they don’t turn into long term rentals, personally,” she wrote.