‘Whole Foods’ project in Rogers cooks up first restaurant tenant

Georgia-based SJC Ventures, a privately held, mixed-use commercial real estate and retail development firm, announced details Tuesday (March 14) about a significant commercial project in the development pipeline along Interstate 49 in Rogers.

North Carolina-based Firebirds Wood Fired Grill has signed a lease at Pinnacle Springs, an 80,498-square-foot mixed-use center in Rogers that Whole Foods Market will anchor.

Founded in 2000, Firebirds has approximately 60 U.S. locations specializing in American cuisine using an authentic wood-fired grill. The Rogers location is the company’s first in Arkansas.

“We are thrilled with how the market has responded to the introduction of Pinnacle Springs,” said Justin Latone, senior vice president of leasing at SJC Ventures. “To be able to bring Firebirds Wood Fired Grill first to market will truly define and transform the offerings available in Rogers.

“We’re currently negotiating several more leases for this project and will be able to announce those within the next 90 days.”

Construction at the Pinnacle Springs site, east of I-49 at the northwest corner of New Hope Road and South Promenade Boulevard, will begin this spring. Firebirds Wood Fired Grill is tentatively planned to open in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Colliers Arkansas in Rogers is SJC Ventures’ development partner for Pinnacle Springs, including a 350-unit apartment complex built on an undeveloped lot (8.6 acres) adjacent to Home Depot.

Neither firm has disclosed site development details for the more complex shopping center/retail component. Two office buildings totaling about 29,000 square feet are occupying that 13-acre hillside site now.