Carlyle Group Invests in Steele Crossing Project

We previously reported on the coming mixed-use development in the Steele Crossing area of north Fayetteville that’s being created by Fayetteville developer Specialized Real Estate Group.

Ground was broken in late November and construction is expected to finish in early 2017. It will include 308 apartment units and a little more than 17,000 SF of retail space. The approximately 15-acre site is at the southwest corner of Joyce and Steele boulevards, across from Razorback Cinema and Academy Sports.

The equity for the $30 million project is made up of a combination of SREG, investment partner Rob Kimbel, owner of Kimbel Mechanical Systems Inc. of Springdale, and, we’ve recently discovered, The Carlyle Group, a publicly traded, private equity powerhouse based in Washington, D.C.

An LLC that includes all three groups called CRP/SREG Uptown Owner LLC acquired the property in November for $3.25 million — the same amount given to purchase the land last summer by a Kimbel/SREG company called KMSDC LLC. The property transferred to the new entity once the construction finance and joint venture agreement closed.

Landing Carlyle as part of this project is a major coup, not just for SREG, but for the entire Northwest Arkansas market.