ArcBest Moving Forward With Chaffee Crossing Headquarters
by June 9, 2014 12:00 am 182 views
ArcBest Corp. of Fort Smith announced plans May 30 to build a new corporate headquarters at the 7,000-acre Chaffee Crossing, a major industrial, commercial and residential development in the Fort Smith region.
The 30-acre site, with an option to purchase 10 more, was acquired for $10,000 per acre. A memorandum of understanding between ArcBest and the Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority, which oversees development of Chaffee Crossing, was unanimously approved at an FCRA board meeting June 2.
“It’s well-situated and the price was fair,” said Walter Echols, vice president of real estate for ArcBest.
The total investment by ArcBest, the city of Fort Smith and the state of Arkansas is expected to land around $30 million.
While no decision has been made, Echols said the new headquarters site may potentially be complemented with a small retail center on the additional 10 acres, offering services to employees and others in the area.
A second agenda item at the June 2 meeting was also approved unanimously: an agreement by FCRA and the city of Fort Smith to equally share the cost of constructing two new streets for the ArcBest facility at a cost of $3.8 million ($1.9 million each).
A new building is needed to handle the company’s growth, Echols said. ArcBest is currently headquartered on a 43-acre site on Old Greenwood Road in Fort Smith.
The new facility and room for expansion at the company’s existing location will add 975 new jobs in Fort Smith through 2021.
Plans call for relocating ArcBest corporate and administrative functions and ABF Logistics personnel to the newly constructed office building, which is anticipated to be smaller than the existing 195,000-SF corporate center facility.
Construction at Chaffee Crossing will begin before the end of the year, with the facility opening in the spring of 2016.
In 2013, ArcBest companies generated $2.3 billion in revenue, with a quarter of that coming from the emerging businesses.
ArcBest’s principal operating subsidiaries are ABF Freight and the emerging businesses ABF Logistics, Panther Premium Logistics and FleetNet America.