8W investors break ground on $20 million commercial project in Bentonville

Few intersections across bustling Northwest Arkansas get as much traffic as 8th Street and Walton Boulevard in the heart of Bentonville. And maybe few small-town intersections in the country handle traffic associated with multi-billion dollar economic decisions.

But a stone’s throw away from the headquarters of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., construction is now underway on a more than $20 million three-story office/retail center that will be 80,000 total square feet when the 8W Center is completed in late 2016.

Property owner Troy Link told Talk Business and Politics he has owned the property that sits directly across the street from Wal-Mart’s home office since the mid 1990s. He owns the Jimmy Johns Subway Shop that formerly stood on the building site, which is temporarily closed. His vendor office for Jacks Links Protein Snacks was also located there along with paid parking spots for past few years.

Link said with the better economy, cheap money and growth in the region he decided to move on his development idea. He has called on Wal-Mart as a vendor since 1993 and said the location is ideal for active Wal-Mart suppliers who have to frequent the retailer’s home office. Link doesn’t live in Arkansas. His family-owned business is based in Minneapolis but he does own several Jimmy John’s franchises in Northwest Arkansas and this is not his first major real estate investment in the region, he said.

Link said the large project has been in the works for the past three years from the first notes in pencil to working with designers and architects in the past two year. The financing package, which Arvest Bank is providing, along with city approval came together earlier this year. The official groundbreaking took place Tuesday (Nov. 3). The building is planned to be 6 stories high with covered parking (215 spaces) located in the middle floors. 

“We are very excited about this day,” Link said. “We are already 20% pre-leased and the interest in this project has been high. The first floor will be retail, my Jimmy John’s Sandwich Shop will reopen there and we are also looking for quick-serve restaurants as well as a full-service restaurant and branded retail to fill the space.”

With roughly 10,000 people working across the street, there is a large captive audience for lunch traffic and the location also is close to the growing downtown Bentonville area. Link said the top two floors have a bird’s eye view of planes coming and going from the Bentonville Municipal Airport as well as Wal-Mart’s home office. This will be Class A office space ranging in size from 350 square feet to 13,000 square feet.

“We hope to attract companies that really want to be at crossroads of Bentonville at 8th and Walton directly across the street from Wal-Mart’s home office. How nice is that to just walk across the street to every meeting that you have (with the retailer),” Link said.

Link also plans to offer shared office space for vendors who don’t keep a full-time office in Bentonville. He is not sure how much can be spared for shared space, but there is demand for that configuration.

Paul Esterer, managing director of Newmark Grubb and developer for 8W project, said there have been logistical issues to overcome. Utility lines converge on the property and have to be moved. He said Wal-Mart’s fiber optics is also underground. Esterer is working with the Little Rock-based Dave Grundfest Company as the general contractor. The 8W Center was designed by Bentonville-based Nielsen Architecture.

“This is a prominent corner and we are excited the vision Troy laid out to our team. It has not been without some challenges but we are excited about the final plans and getting this project underway,” Esterer said.

He said heavy construction will begin in the next few weeks with vertical signs of the building emerging after the new year, and weather permitting the project is expected to be completed sometime late next year.

“Those of us here in Northwest Arkansas have seen the 8th and Walton corridor change several times, but I can tell you that I’ve never been as excited as I am now about this space,” said Bentonville Mayor Bob McCaslin. “The 8W Center is exactly what we are trying to do with this area of our city. … People from around the world visit the Wal-Mart Home Office, so we are proud to have a beautiful and functional center like this directly across the street.”

Craig Rivaldo, president of Arvest Bank Benton County, said this is an important project for the city given its high profile address. He said the bank sold off a piece of land to Link for the project and the developer is relocating their ATM and billboard to a nearby location.