Sams Speculation Continues to Swirl
by March 5, 2012 8:34 am 95 views
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has not yet made public what it plans to do with a 10-acre piece of land it bought late last year for $2.1 million.
The retailer, Whispers readers may remember, bought the property at 2400 S.E. S. St. in Bentonville — west of Sam’s Club home offices — from Chris Crossland of Crossland Construction and John Lawrence of Lawrence Development Group.
Earlier in 2011 the two men put forth a large-scale development proposal to construct a two-story, 222,000-SF warehouse and office facility at that location.
Whispers readers may remember our guesswork a few weeks ago that the site might one day be home to a new building for the company’s apparel division.
Mark Scott, a public relations manager at Wal-Mart, said there are no immediate plans for developing the property.
That hasn’t stopped others from speculating, and not just us.
A most interesting piece of information about the property was presented for consumption during a recent Bentonville luncheon sponsored by the commercial real estate firm Colliers International.
During a PowerPoint presentation focusing on Bentonville, principal Butch Gurganus included a map of the location and professed his company’s belief that the site would be home to a new Sam’s Club Layout Center.
Right now, Sam’s leases space in Springdale for its layout center.
Purely speculation, Gurganus said afterward, but the world’s largest retailer isn’t shelling out $2.1 million for 10 acres just to sit on it.