Hunt Ventures planning second office/parking structure in Rogers

Developers have filed a preliminary development plan with the city of Rogers for technical review, signaling their intention to build an additional large-scale business complex in Pinnacle Hills west of Interstate 49.

Hunt Plaza, according to design documents, will include a five-story office building (129,000 square feet) and attached six-story parking deck (209,000 square feet). It is situated adjacent to the 10-story Hunt Tower.

Hunt Ventures in Rogers, led by chairman Johnelle Hunt, is the landowner, building/parking owner and developer. Cushman & Wakefield/Sage Partners in Rogers will be the commercial real estate agent in the development process.

Crossland Construction Co. in Rogers is the general contractor, and Core Architects of Rogers is the building/parking designer. Crafton Tull of Rogers is the civil engineer. Those companies are also leading the efforts to build the 5.09-acre Northgate Plaza, a 117,000-square-foot, multitenant office building and attached parking deck at 5111 W. J.B. Hunt Drive in Pinnacle Hills. Both structures will be six stories.

Tom Allen, executive vice president and principal of Sage Partners, said construction of the $30 million Northgate Plaza is on schedule to be finished in the first quarter of 2020. He said tenant response to the project has been positive, underscored by starting the development process for Hunt Plaza.

“We have probably 55% of that building [Northgate] already leased, with the potential for another 15% being leased before we deliver it,” Allen said. “We feel very comfortable about the market, and we see a lot of strong interest in office space. The demand is there, and the location is good. We’re very bullish on the market right now.”

According to data from CoStar Group, which provides commercial real estate information, the demand for office space in Northwest Arkansas is heaviest in the West Rogers submarket, largely comprised of Pinnacle Hills. Todd Galvin, CoStar’s market analyst for Northwest Arkansas, said in the past 12 months, nearly 174,000 square feet has been absorbed in West Rogers, which leads all other areas in the metro.

Galvin said the 12-month net absorption for the entire region is 377,000 square feet, which means nearly 46% of all office demand in Northwest Arkansas is in West Rogers. As a result, Galvin said, vacancies in West Rogers are at cyclical lows at 6.2%.

Allen said a bank to finance the construction of Hunt Plaza has not been determined.