Reaves Casting Huge ?Shadow?

Rogers Golf Development Will Offer Family Atmosphere

Charles Reaves spent 32 years moving around the country for his retail career, when all he really wanted to move was dirt.

Now the former Sears, Roebuck & Co. executive is making up for lost time. Reaves is building his dream project in Rogers, a 514-acre golf community smack in the middle of Northwest Arkansas’ prime residential section.

The Jonesboro native’s fifth local effort, Shadow Valley is the largest planned unit development under construction in the two-county area. The $250 million neighborhood starts less than three miles west of the Pleasant Grove Road/Interstate 540 intersection and sprawls a mile west to Arkansas Highway 112.

The development will include 1,700 to 2,000 living units priced at $175,000 and up, with the average home going for about $250,000. But Reaves, now president of Reaves Enterprises Inc., also owns enough adjacent property to double the project’s size to 36 holes of golf and about 4,000 living units.

Construction on Shadow Valley’s initial golf course, named for its deep valleys and grand tree lines that will keep portions of nearly every fairway shaded, began in January. Residential unit building is expected to begin by mid-summer.

About 10 acres of Shadow Valley is earmarked for commercial development.

“This is not just a significant development for Rogers,” said Steve Womack, the city’s mayor. “It’s significant for Northwest Arkansas because of its central location and its upscale design. I have never met a man with better vision than Mr. Reaves.”

Reaves has approval to start work on the golf course and preliminary housing plats are being developed. Final water and sewer plans are expected in early April. The neighborhood was previously annexed to Rogers pursuant to Arkansas Act 779, but Shadow Valley will fall in the Bentonville School District.

Shadow Valley could not be in a hotter spot for residential real estate.

Not only is it a few short miles from Northwest Arkansas’ and arguably the state’s nicest commercial developments — Pinnacle Point and Village on the Creeks — it’s minutes from I-540, the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport, the future site of Mercy Health Systems Inc. and it’s less than 15 minutes each from the home offices of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Tyson Foods Inc. and J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc.

When Springdale’s northern U.S. Highway 412 bypass is completed by 2010, that will be only minutes away, too. That east-west freeway is expected to arc through the Wagon Wheel Road area, but a definite corridor is still being selected.

Shadow Valley is also in Benton County, which is growing faster than traditionally more-metropolitan Washington County According to the latest U.S. Bureau of the Census report, Benton County grew 57 percent, from 97,499 people in 1990 to 153,406 in 2000. That’s 4 percent higher than predictions by the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission.

Washington County grew 39 percent, from 113,409 in 1990 to 157,853 in 2000, but was 1 percent under predictions.

Dick Trammel is an executive vice-president at Arvest Bank in Rogers and one of the most respected business leaders in Northwest Arkansas. He said Reaves is not just building in the right place at the right time, he’s doing it the right way.

Maurice Kolman, Rogers’ director of planning and transportation, agreed.

“Mr. Reaves takes pride in his projects and they’re a betterment to the community when they’re done,” Kolman said. “He does what he says he’s going to do.”

Siteway Construction of Locust Grove, Va., is the development’s general contractor.

Simply Gorgeous

Shadow Valley, which will feature three lakes, dramatic hillside views and babbling streams born from natural springs, has another unique attraction. The gated community will have a public street running through it to link Arkansas 112 and Southgate Road.

Kolman said a master plan for the new road is in the works. Most likely, it will link Haxton Road from the west to a three-way intersection of Rainbow Road and Southgate Road on the east side of Shadow Valley.

Reaves plans to build the west half of the Haxton extension as planning and weather allow. Kolman said the city’s portion probably won’t be completed for a few years, but that the link will probably cost between $250,000 and $500,000 for about a mile of three-lane road. That includes a bridge over Osage Creek, which wiggles through Shadow Valley to the Illinois River.

“The road will serve a lot of people and not just those living at Shadow Valley,” Kolman said. “It will serve anyone looking for an easy way to get out to the airport. We also think a lot of people in Pinnacle Country Club will use it to get to [Highway] 112.”

The first phase of Shadow Valley will include about 1,000 living units including single family homes and some townhouses and patio homes. The market, Reaves said, will dictate the mix.

The overall project is more than double the size of Reaves’ first three west Rogers developments combined, which included 507 lots on 226 acres in Ridgecrest Meadows, Highland Knolls and The Manors on Blossom Way Creek. His first effort was the exclusive 52-acre Preserve on Beaver Lake, which has 32 lots.

Reaves said the style of homes at Shadow Valley will be similar to the ones in the other subdivisions because they’ll reflect a European influence.

“It won’t be pure country-French,” Reaves said. “But there will be a lot of stone and brick mixed and the lot sizes will be about one-quarter acre and up.”

Reaves only uses an exclusive list of builders including David Harris, Judy Enderle, Phil Wenzinger, Sam Welborn and Kurt and Vance Puttkammer. The developer’s Web site, www.reavesenterprises.com, has links to all of the builders’ sites and can access examples of their work.

Retired and Inspired

Reaves’ father, Dale, was a longtime developer in Jonesboro before retiring. Growing up around his father’s work, Reaves said he always dreamed of building communities.

While working at Sears from 1962 to 1994, he climbed the ladder to vice president of transportation and distribution. Eventually, he became president and CEO of Sears’ wholly owned subsidiary Sears Logistics Services Inc. — an early leader in logistics and supply chain management.

During his frequent travels around the country, Reaves said he would take excursions outside cities like Dallas and Atlanta to see the latest in housing developments. On one side trip from Tulsa, Reaves drove the Northwest Arkansas countryside and soon after started making routine visits.

“I was struck by the really unique thing happening here,” Reaves said. “The more I learned about the area, the more I became convinced this is what I was looking for.”

Reaves said the I-540 improvements and the new airport coming to fruition also swayed him to the area. In 1995, he began buying property here. That year he bought the first of 11 parcels from Glen and Barbara Misener that were eventually spliced to form Shadow Valley.

Mayberry at the Links

The development will be set up with groups of 12 to 25 homes clustered together, as opposed to one continuous subdivision. Reaves said the intention is to promote the feeling of family-oriented neighborhoods.

“I want to make people happy that they’ve chosen to live here,” Reaves said. “There’s an awful lot of talk about building towns the way they used to be built, with front porches and yards that encourage interaction. Especially in areas with decent weather, people are inclined to get out and do that anyway.

“All we’re doing is making that easier for people who want facilities where they can gather in groups and enjoy themselves.”

Reaves stressed that Shadow Valley is not just about golf. It will include swimming, tennis and physical fitness facilities, and a clubhouse designed to be “kid-friendly.” Reaves said the clubhouse, which will overlook the back nine holes of the course from a bluff, will actually be more of a community center.

Another amenity he’s excited about is fiber optic cabling throughout the development. Reaves said he is teaming with a local technology firm to supply residents with reasonably priced Internet access that’s faster than DSL or even cable modem service. Some of the Internet products that will likely be available include security monitoring, streaming audio and video and even satellite and cable TV.

“One golf-related highlight is we intend to have an extensive practice and teaching area,” Reaves said. “That’s in large part because we want to focus on the kids. But it will also be another opportunity for people to gather and enjoy themselves. We want to be that type of community.”