Grocery Chain Harps Buys Land for Lowell Store Near I-49

Harps Food Stores Inc. closed two separate land deals Sept. 9 to acquire approximately 19.5 acres in Benton County, paving the way for the company to open its first Lowell location.

The Springdale-based grocery chain acquired the property for a combined $2.62 million. The site is at the northwest corner of the North Goad Springs Road/Arkansas Highway 264 intersection, just west of Interstate 49.

J. Max Van Hoose, vice president for store planning for Harps, said the large-scale development project has already been approved by Lowell city planners, but a construction timeline has not been determined.

Van Hoose said the store would be approximately 32,000 SF and likely include gas pumps.

Harps acquired the land from two property owners. REO Holdings II LLC, an entity controlled by Simmons First National Bank, sold 10.04 acres for $522,720. Fayetteville Real Estate & Development LLC, managed by businessman Don Pitts, sold 9.3 acres for $2.1 million. Pitts is chairman of United Holding Co., the holding company that operates United Bank and United-Built Homes Inc., both headquartered in Springdale.

United Bank acquired the property at auction in April 2009 for $1.4 million.

Brian Shaw with Fayetteville commercial real estate firm Sage Partners represented Harps in both transactions.

Ramsay Ball with Colliers International in Bentonville was the listing agent for the REO Holdings parcel. The Fayetteville Real Estate parcel, the hard corner land, was not listed.

Harps, founded in 1930, operates 79 stores in Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. It opened its most recent location in Dover in May, and is currently building a store in Bellefonte, a small community southeast of Harrison.

The employee-owned company has more than 4,500 employees.