Limestone Loves The Corners (Real Deals)

Limestone Group Southwest Inc. of Dallas will soon begin site work on a 60-acre planned unit development valued at more than $16 million at the intersection of Arkansas Highway 12 and Arkansas Highway 112. Limestone is the developer and general contractor on the project that is scheduled to be complete during the fourth quarter of 2005.

The project includes 35 acres of commercial property for development and a 278-unit, 25-acre apartment complex. Units in Limestone Ranch at The Corners will range from about 700 SF for a one-bedroom to 1,300 SF for a three bedroom and will rent from $750. The Limestone development will feature 15 individual buildings with 170 one-bedroom, 96 two-bedroom and 12 three-bedroom units. Some units will have direct-access garages. The complex will have a clubhouse with a resort-style pool, barbecue grills, a fitness center, a game room, a gathering room with kitchen, private meeting rooms, a business media center, a playground, a dog run and a walking trail.

CEI Engineering Associates Inc. of Bentonville is the engineer and BGO Architects of Dallas is the architect.

The bank financier has not been selected yet, and the management firm for the apartment complex has not been selected.

FBC-Van Buren Expands Worship

Construction continues on the new 32,400-SF First Baptist Church of Van Buren. Crawford Construction Inc. of Fort Smith began structural work in May on the new $4.6 million church that sits adjacent to the existing facility off Main Street.

The new building will feature an auditorium/worship center with theater-style seating to 1,100 initially, with space for seats to be added for up to 1,600. It will also have a choir room and music library. The existing church seats 500 to 600 for worship. It will be used as an educational center, chapel and multi-functional facility. The church was founded in 1875 and added the Jordan Chapel in the early 1900s, a facility that is still used today.

Bank of the Ozarks’ Van Buren branch financed the construction.

ODA Architectural Planning of Houston, Texas, is the architect and Architectural Plus of Fort Smith is the associated architect. Haynes Whaley Associates Inc. of Houston is the engineer.

Northwest Expands Digs In Springdale

Northwest Health System Inc. recently bought a building permit valued at $4.6 million to continue work on its $7.3 million expansion project on its main Springdale campus at 609 W. Maple Ave. Robins & Mourton Group of Dallas is the general contractor.

The expansion includes the addition of a 31-bed medical/surgical unit to the fifth floor of the Harvey Jones Tower.

The project will also include a new lobby and renovations to the existing waiting areas and corridors, and the nine-bed Surgical Intensive Care Unit in Tower I.

The exterior of Tower I will be re-finished with stucco and new energy-efficient windows will be added.

TLC Engineering of Nashville is the engineer and Gould Turner Group of Nashville is the architect.

Northwest Health is a subsidiary of publicly traded Triad Hospitals Inc. in Plano, Texas. Triad owns 52 hospitals and 14 ambulatory surgery centers in 15 states with more than 8,000 licensed beds.

Whitt Envisions Value off Phyllis

Key Construction Inc. of Wichita, Kan., recently bought a building permit valued at $3.7 million to build a 121-room, 42,640-SF Value Place property at 1201 Phyllis Street in Bentonville.

Whitt Properties LLC is the owner of the Value Place franchise that caters to economy-rate, extended-stay hotel customers. Base rates will be $159 per week. Chris Whitt, Kane Whitt and Storm Nolan are principals in Whitt Properties LLC in Wichita.

Rooms will have a kitchenette, Internet access and some will have additional beds or foldout couches.

Whitt Properties owns the Value Place franchises in Memphis, Dallas and Reno, Nev., and has another franchise under construction in Little Rock.

The developers have plans for a second Value Place on South Walton Boulevard across from the Hilton Garden Inn.

First National Bank of Fort Smith is financing the construction.

Norton Knows Plant Expansion

Norton Proppants recently bought a building permit valued at $3.5 million to continue its $10 million, 25,000-SF expansion project at the company’s Fort Smith plant off Gerber Road. The existing plant is more than 100,000 SF.

Site work on the project began in mid-2004 and the construction is scheduled for completion by the end of first quarter. The project, which includes the addition of mixing equipment, conveyors and dryers, will expand their production capacity by 30 percent.

Nabholz Construction Co. of Little Rock is the general contractor.

Proppants are spherical ceramic beads — about the size of a grain of sand — that are fired at a high temperature and are able to maintain integrity under pressure.

Norton Proppants, a subsidiary of Compagnie de Saint-Gobain of Paris, France, also has a plant in Bryant. Compagnie de Saint-Gobain employs about 170,000 people in 47 countries.

Brassart Boasts The Bluffs

Site work is nearly complete at The Bluffs subdivision, which is valued at more than $1.5 million off Peach Orchard Road in Benton County. The property features an entrance bridge with patterned concrete walls and a column gate.

Jim and Amy Brassart of AMRI LLC are the developers of the 21-lot project that has lots ranging from 0.4 to 4.5 acres within the 30-acre tract. The lots will sell from $75,000. Homes must be a minimum of 3,500 SF.

Sand Creek Engineering and Landscape Architecture Inc. of Bentonville is the engineer. BBCI Construction Co., which is also owned by Brassart, did the site work.

Arvest Bank-Bentonville financed the project.

About 50 percent of the lots are already sold. Construction on the first home, being built by Tim Harrel, is 6,000 SF and ready for the roof.

Brassart has several other subdivisions under construction in Benton County which include:

• The 105-acre Aeu Claire subdivision at the intersection of Benton County Road 40 and Spanger Creek Road. Homes in the 36-lot development will be a minimum of 3,000 SF. Lots will range from 1.25 to 2.2 acres and sell from $65,000. Brassart said it’s about one-third sold to builders.

• Site work will start in February on the 42-acre Bellagio subdivision off Arkansas Highway 72 West in Benton County. Homes are a minimum of 3,500 SF and lots range from 0.66 to 2 acres. They’ll sell from $75,000.

• Site work should start in February on the 46-lot Meadowland subdivision off Pleasant Ridge Drive in Lowell. Homes are a minimum of 3,000 SF in development that will have a step sewer system. Lots range from 0.50 to 0.33 acres and will sell from $70,000.