Blew & Associates to convert vacant Shiloh Drive building into new Fayetteville headquarters

Northwest Arkansas has gained a reputation in recent years as a culinary hot spot, with new restaurants sprouting up throughout the two-county area.

But now one vacant restaurant in Fayetteville will soon get a new life as a professional office building.

Blew & Associates P.A. of Fayetteville, a civil engineering and surveying firm, has acquired the 10,800-square-foot building at 3825 N. Shiloh Drive and plans to renovate the space into its new headquarters. The site is just south of the Joyce Boulevard/College Avenue intersection.

According to county records, an LLC controlled by Blew bought the 2.61-acre property for $1.97 million. The deal was funded by a $2.96 million loan from Paragould-based First National Bank.

Blew & Associates is owned by Buckley Blew. Office manager Ashley Nix said the company is nearing 100 employees. She said the company already has design plans in hand from Bentonville architect Dave Burris and will begin renovation of the Shiloh Drive building in the coming weeks. A target completion date for the renovation is late summer or possibly early fall.

Kyle Naples with Napa Construction LLC of Fayetteville is the contractor.

“We’re planning to completely remodel the building and turn it into a two-story building,” Nix said. “We’re really excited. I know everyone here is excited for the extra space and the extra parking. We don’t have enough for our employees.”

Blew’s Fayetteville office currently is in mid-Fayetteville at 524 W. Sycamore St., a 6,200-square-foot building it owns but shares with additional tenants. Blew will be the sole tenant of the Shiloh Drive property.

The building has been home to a number of restaurants in the last two decades, including Ryan’s Steakhouse, Fire Mountain and Buck Nekkid BBQ. Most recently, it was a retail store for Halloween accessories.

Fayetteville real estate firm Lindsey & Associates had owned the building for the past 10 years.