Creating opportunity for development
Posted on Wednesday, July 23, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/bcdr/News/64075/
BENTONVILLE — With approval from the Bentonville City Council on Tuesday night, the city of Bentonville will move forward on a deal to bring it into sole possession of 145 acres across Arkansas Highway 12 from the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport.
And that purchase — which requires just $ 481, 842, the majority of which is already sitting in an earmarked account — could set the stage for the relocation and expansion of the Bentonville National Guard Armory. Bentonville mayor Bob Mc-Caslin believes the acquisition will also set the stage for future land swaps and attracting new warehousing and industry.
The council voted 5-0 on the agreement. Alderman Rod Sanders was not present at the meeting.
Several decades ago, the city of Bentonville entered into a partnership with the Bentonville Industrial Development Corp., a nonprofit group focused on preparing property to attract industrial development. Several examples of the partnership’s success are spread across the community, most notably the industrial tract at the northeast corner of Southeast J and 28 th streets. For a number of years, the city has owned 56. 71 percent of 145 acres situated in proximity to the Polo Park Business Complex near XNA. The other 43. 29 percent is owned by BIDC.
The property has already been primed with utilities, a ponding area and more, but the changing economy and lack of activity in that area prompted McCaslin to develop an alternative plan. That plan is for the city to buy BIDC’s share of the property, for which the organization is still paying its loan and interest.
“ I hate to use the term ‘ thinking outside the box, ’ but that’s exactly what the mayor is doing here, ” said Rich Davis, Bentonville-Bella Vista Chamber of Commerce vice president of economic development. “ The mayor is thinking very much like a business person and creating a new opportunity. This gives the city more flexibility in what happens with that property. ”
That opportunity will cost the city $ 481, 842, of which Bentonville director of finance Denise Land said the city would draw $ 343, 842 from an account already earmarked for future investment with BIDC. The remaining $ 138, 000 will have to come out of the city’s general fund, but McCaslin believes the investment will more than pay off.
Another project that has been talked about for years is the widening of Eighth Street from the Wal-Mart Home Office to Interstate 540. The project, referred to by many as the Wal-Mart Superhighway, is now in the design process and intends to alleviate traffic congestion in and around the heart of Bentonville. But from the various options drawn up thus far, it is obvious several homes and businesses along the corridor will have to be bought out or relocated. The Bentonville National Guard Armory, at 109 S. E. Eighth St., is among them.
McCaslin said city officials have approached the Bentonville National Guard Armory about relocating to a larger piece of property within the 145-acre tract near XNA that the city will soon fully own. In fact, McCaslin confirmed that Community Development Director Troy Galloway and Transportation Director Mike Churchwell were in Little Rock on Tuesday to discuss the potential for growing the armory into a regional National Guard facility upon relocation to the southwest corner of town.
That, according to McCaslin, could be the first of many potential uses for the property.
“ Having a regional National Guard facility out there could be a real possibility, ” McCaslin said. “ Hopefully, in conjunction with the chamber or whomever, we also could entice additional industry, such as warehousing, that would be good for Bentonville and northwest Arkansas. Third, it could create opportunities to swap some of that territory for parcels currently being underutilized in and around the downtown area. ”