Walmart sells former call center in Springdale to Tyson Foods for $19.3 million

Tyson Foods has acquired a significant Springdale real estate asset from Walmart Inc.

According to Washington County property records, a 130,000-square-foot building at 2800 S. Thompson St. traded for $19.34 million. The purchase price equals $148.80 per square foot.

The deal officially closed on Dec. 9. City Title & Closing of Fayetteville was the title agent. Steve Lane and John Rowland with Colliers Arkansas in Rogers represented Walmart in the transaction.

Walmart briefly used the building for its Walmart Contact Center, a call center that housed nearly 1,000 employees. After completing a massive remodel, the Bentonville-based retailer hosted a grand opening event for the state-of-the-art building in August 2019. Before the remodel, the building was a Sam’s Club store and a layout center for Sam’s Club.

Company officials did not disclose the investment amount for the project. Nabholz Construction Corp. of Rogers used a building permit valued at $11.8 million to complete the redesign. Nielsen Architecture in Bentonville was the architect.

Walmart designed the building with several employee amenities, including a 24-hour fitness center, full-service café, outdoor patios and dedicated training and employee development spaces.

When the pandemic arrived in March 2020, Walmart sent its employees home and closed the center, and it never fully re-opened.

“The sale of the Walmart Call Center in Springdale is a part of our process of managing the company’s corporate real estate portfolio across the region,” Walmart said in a statement to the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal.

Tyson Foods spokesman Derek Burleson said the property will help bridge the office gap as it works to relocate approximately 1,000 corporate jobs from South Dakota and Illinois to Northwest Arkansas next year.

“The building will provide more space and flexibility as we consolidate our corporate offices and expand world headquarters,” Burleson said.

He said the company plans to refer to the new office complex as “Tyson on Thompson.” It will have the capacity for approximately 1,000 “workspaces.”