Bentonville apartments sell for $34 million to Walton brothers

BusinessNorthwest Arkansas

by Jeff Della Rosa ([email protected]) ago 5 views 

A 190-unit apartment complex on 15.57 acres in Bentonville recently changed hands for $34.35 million. Touchstone Operator LLC of Dallas acquired Touchstone Village at 501 S.W. 20th St. from Touchstone Village W80 LLC of Brooklyn, N.Y.

The purchase price equals $180,789 per unit. City Title & Closing was the title agent.

Read Property Group LLC, led by Robert Wolf, managed the apartment complex. Jared Faciszewski is vice president of Touchstone Operator and CEO of Blue Crane, the real estate acquisition and development arm of Runway Group. Steuart Walton and his brother, Tom Walton, co-founded Runway Group, a Bentonville holding company that invests in real estate, outdoor initiatives and hospitality. They are the grandsons of Walmart founder Sam Walton and the sons of Jim Walton, chairman of Arvest Bank Group.

Touchstone Village was built in 2002 and has been renovated. It comprises a clubhouse with a fitness center and pool. The single-story units range from one bedroom and one bathroom (586 square feet) to two bedrooms and two bathrooms (816 square feet). In February 2018, Touchstone Village W80 LLC acquired the property for $8.8 million. The seller was Touchstone Limited Partnership of Bentonville.

The apartment deal is the second known large Northwest Arkansas property deal for the Walton brothers in recent months.

Blue Crane on May 9 closed a real estate deal to buy approximately 2,700 acres of undeveloped land from Cooper Communities Inc. of Rogers. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. According to a news release, the land is situated throughout Bella Vista in Benton County, with most of it on the city’s west side.

In the May 9 release, Tom Walton, Runway Group’s CEO, acknowledged the land sale’s impact and a commitment to involving the community in future developments.

“We believe deeply in Bella Vista’s tradition of connecting people to nature through cycling, golf and outdoor recreation, and we are confident our investments will reflect that,” he said.