Bentonville Plaza sells for $38 million

A nine-story, 252,162-square-foot office building adjacent to the Walmart Home Office in Bentonville has a new owner after a Thursday (Dec. 19) sale worth $38 million. The purchase price equals $150 per square foot.

Fayetteville asset management company Lefler Capital, led by T.J. Lefler, bought Bentonville Plaza, a multi-tenant, class A office building at 609 S.W. Eighth Street. Lefler Capital develops and owns commercial properties, including multifamily, office, retail and warehouse spaces. The company owns about 30 properties valued at over $250 million.

The seller was Bentonville Plaza Partners LLC, organized by Rob McLaughlin, CEO of Oklahoma City-based Square Deal Capital and board chairman of Square Deal Investments.

Marshall Saviers, Aaron Nicholson and Johnny Galloway of commercial real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield / Sage Partners represented the buyer in the transaction. The firm has offices in Rogers and Little Rock and manages and markets more than 6.5 million square feet of office, industrial and retail properties in Arkansas.

The transaction comprised 8.45 acres, which included land surrounding the building.

Bentonville Plaza opened in 2004 and is about one mile from the new Walmart Home Office and across the street from the existing home office, which Bentonville-based Blue Crane plans to redevelop. Blue Crane is the real estate acquisition and development arm of Bentonville holding company Runway Group. Steuart Walton and Tom Walton, CEO of Runway Group, lead Blue Crane. The property is adjacent to the 110-acre 8th Street Gateway Park, which is under construction.

In November 2016, Square Deal purchased Bentonville Plaza and the surrounding land for $54.8 million. The seller was FBE Limited LLC of New York.