Developers seek nearly $20 million in permits for Drake Farms project

Developers for the more than 120-acre, mixed-use Drake Farms development northwest of Gregg Avenue and Drake Street in Fayetteville have applied for five commercial building permits with a combined value of more than $19.66 million.

The city permit requests show three, three-story multifamily buildings with 120 units spanning 98,868 square feet, and two, two-story commercial buildings comprising 23,742 square feet.

According to plans for the development’s newest phase, the buildings will be built on 32.98 acres and would be connected to Drake Street via a new street, North Mansfield Avenue.

Following are the building permit requests.

• The $6.33 million permit is for a three-story, 48-unit multifamily building. The address is 2888 N. Mansfield Ave. for the planned 40,602-square-foot building.
• The $4.36 million permit is for a three-story, 36-unit multifamily building. The address is 2919 N. Mansfield Ave. for the planned 29,133-square-foot building.
• The $4.36 million permit is for a three-story, 36-unit multifamily development. The address is 2893 N. Mansfield Ave. for the planned 29,133-square-foot building.
• The $3.63 million permit is for a two-story, 18,687-square-foot commercial shell building set up for a restaurant and commercial office tenants. The address is 2841 N. Mansfield Ave.
• The permit valued at $989,314 is for a two-story, 5,055-square-foot commercial shell building set up for a coffee bar or small restaurant tenant. The address is 2817 N. Mansfield Ave.

According to the permit requests and plans, the newest phase of the project includes Fayetteville developers High Street Real Estate and Development and Specialized Real Estate Group, which is also the contractor for the commercial shell buildings.

Ecological Design Group in Rogers and BiLD Architects in Fayetteville are the designers. Conway-based Nabholz Construction Corp. is the contractor on the multifamily buildings, and Birmingham, Ala.-based Nequette Architecture & Design is the designer.

The Pendergraft Building, a two-story, 19,000-square-foot office building, opened in 2022 and was Drake Farms’ first project. The property consists of several tracts of land purchased by the Pendergraft family over the past quarter-century. It is bordered by North Fulbright Expressway, Gregg Avenue, Drake Street and Garland Avenue. It’s planned to be developed incrementally over the next two decades.

In January 2025 and September 2021, Fayetteville health care provider Washington Regional bought a combined 28.57 acres in the development for a combined $12.44 million as part of its plans to expand its hospital campus.

“Plans for the property include facilities for expanded inpatient and outpatient hospital services, undergraduate and graduate medical education, workforce development, ambulatory care services, and a center for wellness,” a Washington Regional spokeswoman said.