Developer announces $6 million project near downtown Bentonville

Bentonville developer Jake Newell, owner and CEO of Newell Development, has announced plans for a $6 million housing development near the intersection of Southwest B and Sixth streets.

“We’ve been working for three years in the Arts District to create a tight-knit community of houses, townhouses and apartments with mixed use/office space on Southwest B Street between Fourth and Seventh [streets],” Newell said. “Business to us is about community. We want our company to be about inviting other people into this story in downtown Bentonville.”

Newell’s project is called Depot No. 16 and is owned through an LLC managed by Newell and business partner Ted Herget of Jonesboro. Herget owns outdoor apparel and supply company Gearhead Outfitters, a chain of 11 stores in three states.

Depot No. 16 will have 33 units available for lease. Nine are two-bedroom apartments, seven are studio apartments and the rest are one-bedroom apartments. Newell said 26 of the units will be priced below $1,200 per month. A 400-square-foot studio apartment will lease for $700 per month.

Newell said he anticipates having a third of the units pre-leased before they are move-in ready. The project should be finished by January 2019.

The development is being built on a 0.29-acre lot acquired in 2015 for $225,000.

Fort Smith-based First National Bank of NWA is providing financing and C.R. Crawford Construction of Fayetteville is the contractor. Arkansas design firms Cromwell Architects Engineers Inc. and Ecological Design Group also contributed to the project.

Newell said he expects to make additional announcements this year about other projects on the Southwest B Street corridor. He says he is planning to bring an additional 50 units to the market in multiple projects. They’ll be a mixture of single-family houses, apartments and townhouses.