New Hotels Jockey for Arts Crowds

A boutique hotel and art museum slated for downtown Bentonville and backed by the Walton family is on track to start site work September 15th and open late next year.

And plans for a Sheraton hotel, near the headquarters of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., took a giant step forward last week when the owners closed on the purchase of a key piece of land.

A major impetus for the hotel activity is the planned Nov. 11 opening of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in downtown Bentonville. The museum is expected to draw about 250,000 visitors in its first year, but officials say the region is ready to roll out the welcome mat.

According to the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal’s list of the area’s largest hotels, Bentonville had 1,207 rooms in 2010, with estimated total room revenue of $16 million.

The 21c Museum Hotel will add 103 rooms, and the Sheraton Bentonville Plaza another 234.

With more than 7,400 hotel rooms already in Benton and Washington counties, the region is well poised to handle the influx of tourists, said Ed Clifford, president and CEO of the Bentonville/Bella Vista Chamber of Commerce. Besides, some of the Crystal Bridges traffic will be local and repeat visitors, he said.

“There’s a lot of rooms in Northwest Arkansas, so I don’t think there’s going to be a crunch,” Clifford said.

And with a number of new restaurants opening in Bentonville, the city is in good shape to accommodate the crowds, he said.

Bentonville Mayor Bob McCaslin said the fact that both these hotels are investing in the city is a great compliment to it.

The 21c, in particular,  “is a major compliment to the [Crystal Bridges] museum and the clients who’ll be visiting the museum,” he said. “They’re also paying a great compliment to Bentonville because they’re saying, ‘We see a bright future for the city.'”

 

Art Tie-in

The construction document phase for the 21c is nearing completion, said Molly Swyers, spokesman for the Louisville, Ky.-based hotel. The large-scale development plans will likely be presented to the Bentonville Planning Commission in the next few weeks, she said.

Valued at $28 million, the contemporary, four-story building will be constructed at 200 N.E. A St., within walking distance of Crystal Bridges.

Steve Wilson, owner of the 21c Museum Hotel in Louisville, announced in June 2010 that his company would build a Bentonville location in conjunction with the Walton family and the nonprofit Bentonville Revitalization Inc.

Bentonville’s 21c will be much like the flagship hotel and is being designed by the same architect, Deborah Berke & Partners of New York. The Fayetteville office of Polk Stanley Wilcox is drawing up the construction documents.

Located on 2.44 acres, Bentonville’s 21c will feature a fitness center, business center and 9,000-SF bar and restaurant. It will also offer more than 12,000 SF of exhibition, meeting and event space.

Tying into the expected art tourism, the hotel will present curated, rotating art exhibitions and live art events.

Once it opens, it’s expected to create about 160 full-time jobs.

Louisville-based Poe Companies is the co-developer of the project. Flintco LLC is the general contractor.

Crafton Tull in Rogers is handling the civil engineering for the hotel.

HP Engineering Inc. will provide mechanical and LEED services. Mark Cloud, HP’s director of business development, said the firm is designing a “world-class” control system for lighting, HVAC and concierge services for the hotel.

 

Plaza Plans

The Sheraton Bentonville Plaza, a $42 million, seven-story hotel announced in June 2009, was originally scheduled for completion next month.

FBE Limited LLC, a private investment firm based in New York, already owned the nine-story Bentonville Place office building and about 15 acres surrounding it.

FBE’s plans place the hotel almost directly across Southwest Eighth Street from Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club headquarters, but the company wanted it to face Walton Boulevard. Doing that required buying the site at 1001 S. Walton Blvd. that was occupied by George Nunnally Chevrolet.

That purchase was finally accomplished this month, said Grady Mathews, who manages Bentonville Plaza for Grubb & Ellis – Solomon Partners.

FBE paid $1.95 million for the 4.93 acres, Mathews said.

The effort to buy Nunnally was part of the holdup in moving forward with the hotel, Mathews said.

“Any financing related to hospitality is pretty much nonexistent right now,” Mathews said.

The Sheraton will cater to both business travelers and visitors to Crystal Bridges, according to a news release from Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, owner of the Sheraton chain.

The hotel will have about 6,500 SF of meeting space, plus a pool and fitness center.

No timeline has been announced for the start of construction or a new completion date.