FCRA boss proposes new commercial property development plan

FCRA Executive Director Ivy Owen is pushing a commercial property plan for land in the area between the planned $30 million ArcBest corporate headquarters and the planned $31 million osteopathic medical school.

According to Owen, the proposal to develop plats of land provides more control over the type of developments that could ultimately make a home in the area between the two large campuses. Owen presented his plan during Thursday's (Sept. 18) Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority Board of Trustees meeting.

The plan, at this point, is to focus plat development on commercial and retail spaces, he said, adding that some mixed use development could also be included.

Beyond being able to guide the type of development that would ultimately take place in the area, Fort Smith Mayor Sandy Sanders noted that it would also allow the city to better plan infrastructure investment in the as of yet undeveloped land between the school and corporate headquarters.

"If we can establish what is going to be in different areas, we don't wind up with changes at the last minute. We may build a 36-inch water line with the land use, where it normally needs a smaller one. Then we've embedded a lot of investment that isn't going to be used. So if we can really pretty much tie down what the developmental areas are going to contain, then as we continue to invest infrastructure we have a better idea of what (infrastructure investment the city should make)."

The move to designated plats for development comes nearly three months to the day after Owen said FCRA was transitioning to a different phase of development.

"I think there's going to be smaller scale developments just because, and particularly here at Chaffee Crossing, because of the configuration of our property now," Owen said in June. "We've sold a lot of large tracts and because of that, we now have a lot of smaller, specialized pieces of property."

In other business, the board was told that a "gustnado" that made its way through Chaffee Crossing in July was responsible for more than $2 million in insurable reimbursements.

According to FCRA Director of Operations Larry Evans, final figures from First Western Insurance showed that 51 buildings at Chaffee received some sort of damage during the storm. The damage to the 51 buildings totaled $1.5 million, while costs for cleanup and other items brought the total insurance payout for FCRA to $2.085 million.

Evans said a total of five buildings were destroyed in the storm and damage to other buildings is in the process of being repaired. Repairs will first take place on occupied buildings, he said, adding that unoccupied buildings would be repaired last.

The buildings damaged in the storm were former military buildings originally functioning as warehouses and other uses, but have since been leased by the FCRA to tenants for a variety of business purposes, including a tent repair business. Tenants of the five destroyed buildings have relocated to other available structures at Chaffee with the exception of one company that relocated away from the former U.S. Army base.

Cleanup from the storm is 99% complete, Evans said, meaning the Redevelopment Authority can move forward with repairs. A check for $750,000 to help get repairs moving was scheduled to arrive this week, though Evans noted with one day left in the week the check from First Western Insurance had not yet arrived at the FCRA offices.

The FCRA board also heard from Richard Meers, outside design coordinator for the Vietnam Veterans Chapter 467 group which is in the planning stages of a museum about the Vietnam War in the Chaffee Crossing historic district. Meers' presentation provided design concepts of what the group would like to see included in its museum, though cost estimates are not yet known.