Area homebuilders break ground on 2025 showcase home

More than 50 people gathered Wednesday (March 5) in cold and windy conditions to ceremonially break ground on the 2025 showcase home that is part of a promotion effort of the Greater Fort Smith Association of Home Builders (GFSAHB).

The home at 1101 Hunter Drive in Barling is being built by Donnie Wise of Don Wise Construction. Other supporters and sponsors of the project include Arkansas Oklahoma Gas, Firstar Bank, Waco Title, BHC Insurance, and Wise Baker Real Estate Group of KW Platinum. Wise said the estimated price for the home is in the “high $400,000 range.”

The GFSAHB represents regional home builders, service providers, and suppliers to promote awareness of the home building industry.

“AOG has been a proud sponsor for over 30 years of the showcase home,” said Fred Kirkwood, chief customer experience officer at Summit, which is the parent company of AOG. “We believe in this organization, and we believe in what this house does. It gives them (area residents) ideas about what they can build or remodel in their own homes.”

The showcase home is expected to have a natural gas powered generator that “keeps the power on even when that electric power goes out,” Kirkwood said.

With F-35 jets based at Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Fort Smith roaring overhead a few minutes before the beginning of Wednesday’s event, Wise said he is not yet counting on the new pilot training center to help drive home sales.

“We’ve seen a big benefit from the college (Arkansas Colleges of Health Education), to be honest with you,” he said. “The medical school, I mean, I’ve had a lot of houses that have been tied to that that we’ve sold.”

Ebbing, home to the 188th Wing in Fort Smith and co-located with the Fort Smith Regional Airport, was selected in March 2023 by the U.S. Air Force to be the long-term pilot training center supporting F-16 and F-35 fighter planes purchased by Singapore, Switzerland, Poland, Germany, Finland, and other countries participating in the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program.

Wise, who is building several homes in the new Bryorwood subdivision in Barling, said ongoing regional growth is what he is banking on.

“This biggest thing I think is that we still have a lot of growth coming to Fort Smith, and when the grass starts to get green, and hopefully it’s going to soon, that’s when people get out and start buying,” Wise said.

He’s also happy that lumber prices, so far, have remained stable even with tariffs against Canada, which sells lumber into the U.S. market.

“We haven’t seen a whole lot of difference in lumber prices. … And we haven’t heard a lot about that (higher prices resulting from tariffs) yet,” Wise said, adding that lumber is still about twice as high as it was before COVID.

The association will have its annual Parade of Homes in early October, according to DeAnne Hankins, GFSAHB executive director. The first weekend for display of the 30-35 homes in the region is set for Oct. 3-5 and the weekend of Oct. 10-12.