Horsebarn Apartment project gets approval from Rogers Planning Commission

Plans for a new apartment complex on Horsebarn Road received a green light Tuesday (May 3) from the Rogers Planning Commission.

The Horsebarn Apartments are planned for 322 units on a 22.5-acre site on the southwest corner of Horsebarn Road and Horsebarn Lane. Specialized Real Estate Group is developing the project. The company is also building the Uptown Mixed Use development in Fayetteville, across North Steele Boulevard from the Malco Theater. Uptown will feature 300 apartments as well as 17,000 square feet of commercial space.

Seth Mimms, a partner in the group, said construction on the Rogers complex could begin later this year and be completed in about 18 months. A price point on the price of the rental units hasn’t been developed but Mimms said the group would be looking for the “highest price point in the market.” He didn’t have a cost estimate on the construction.

He described the target demographic for the complex as “young professionals and empty-nesters.”

Thie development comes on the heels of three other apartment developments already under construction in the city which will bring an additional 600 units online this year. The large Promenade Point development added 200 units last year which helped to raise the vacancy rate to 4.8% at the end of 2015. Vacancies were reported at 1.2% in the prior year, according to the Arvest Skyline Report.

The Horsebarn project approval was not without conditions and waivers to the city code. The conditions include a photometric lighting plan to show no light leaving the site, and the developer is required to install evergreens or shrubs where existing screening is not sufficient along the north property line.

The waivers deal with the slopes of driveways leading into the project, including the fire access from Horsebarn Lane. City code sets the maximum slope at 10%. The waivers allow a 12% slope from Horsebarn Road, which will be the main entrance into the complex, and a 14% slope from Horsebarn Lane.

The Horsebarn Lane slope must be built to specifications to accommodate a 75,000-pound fire truck, commissioners said. Mimms said that road would be asphalt. The main entrance will be concrete, he added.