Scenic Development in Rogers Blends Retail, Office Use

Village on the Creeks to top 500,000 SF

Village on the Creeks, that eclectic commercial development along U.S. Highway 71 in Rogers, is nearing the vision its developer had for the property five years ago.

About 1,000 people pass through the development each day. Some 300 work in the offices and other businesses while about 700 people use the $2 million Village Athletic Club in the heart of the development.

When Village on the Creeks is completed in a couple of years, there will be 25 office buildings totaling about 300,000 SF and about 120,000 SF of retail space. The current total value of the buildings in the development is more than $15 million, and that will more than double by the time it’s completed.

“This is a gift,” says Carmen Lehman, who is developing the project with her husband, Arnold. “There were never any grand plans. It just happened. We are very blessed.”

Nestled among the lakes, fountains, walking trails and park benches are 12 office buildings, SoHo Clothiers, Chuck’s Cake Shoppe, Basil’s Cafe and the Village Athletic Club. Three more retail businesses — Alexandra’s Accents, Old San Francisco Coffee Roaster and Ciao Bella, a personal-care salon — are scheduled to open in August.

And, it’s not unusual to find a company executive, dressed in the obligatory suit and tie, sitting along the shore of the development’s 11-acre lake fishing during his lunch break. The lake is stocked with bass, crappie, catfish and trout. Tenants are allowed to fish in the lake but must release the fish they catch.

Most of the buildings have been erected in the last two years and the growth is continuing at the same fast pace. Two more office buildings are under construction and more retail space is scheduled for construction later this year.

Developing the land required more work than most such projects. The Lehmans literally had to change the land to build on it. When they bought the 64 acres five years ago, it was in the floodplain and contained 21 minnow ponds. It took two years to excavate and fill the property to change the floodplain.

“The cost of the land was far less than the cost of developing it,” Lehman says.

Much of the infrastructure of the development was financed with the sale of $2.4 million in municipal bonds, one of the first such bond issues in Northwest Arkansas.

The Lehmans recognized the need for an office park about five years ago after leasing space in other another development to companies that moved to the area to be near Wal-Mart Stores Inc. of Bentonville. For many of the vendor companies, Wal-Mart is their largest single account.

“We were some of the first developers that had Wal-Mart vendors as tenants,” Lehman says. “We didn’t have enough space for them.”

She quickly realized there was a lucrative market for such office space and began looking for land to develop. She also began attending conventions to learn what retailers were looking for in a development.

“We recognized the need for retail space in the area,” she says.

Currently, there is 18,400 SF of retail space in the development and all but 1,200 SF of it is leased. Construction is scheduled to start within the next 60 days on another 20,000 SF of retail space.

“We want unique speciality stores and a blend of services,” Lehman says. “The market is here.”

The development is closely patterned after Utica Square in Tulsa and Highland Park Village in Dallas, both outdoor shopping centers, she says. Interest among retailers has been high and she has received inquiries about space from store owners across Arkansas and neighboring states.

“We have been approached by people who want to be in the development but don’t have a business yet,” she says. “We have helped some of our tenants develop a business plan which helped them obtain financing.”

Carmen Lehman describes her husband as the creator and visionary of the development business while she handles business management and financial affairs, such as negotiating leases and arranging construction financing.

Despite its current success, competing developers and real estate investors questioned the location of Village on the Creeks. Some said it was too far from other developments to be successful. Carmen Lehman says she has proved them wrong.

“We are within 600 feet of the center of the population of Northwest Arkansas,” she says. “And, the city has no other choice but to grow in this direction.”

Traffic counts recorded by the state show that U.S. Highway 71 has the most traffic at the Champions exit of any intersection along the highway. A study in 1995 shows a daily traffic count of 30,000 cars at the intersection.

Village on the Creeks also is near the exclusive Pinnacle housing development. Although the proximity wasn’t a deciding factor in purchasing the land, Lehman says residents of Pinnacle use the development’s stores, restaurant and athletic club.

She also expects the development to benefit from the new regional airport scheduled to open in November near Highfill and the completion of the new highway that will connect Northwest Arkansas to Alma.

“We’re obviously going to be a destination point for a lot of people,” she says.

The Lehmans have been in the development and construction business for 32 years, mainly with residential projects. Some of the more prominent residential developments include the Hanover and Stonehenge subdivisions in Bentonville.

Hanover has building lots ranging from one-third to 2 acres. The next phase of the development, which is in the planning stages, will have covenants requiring all homes to be a minimum of 3,000 SF. Prices for homes in the subdivision vary from $300,000 to $650,000.

Stonehenge has 145 lots and the minimum size of a new home is 2,000 SF. Homes range in price from $250,000 to $450,000.

The Lehmans’ only other commercial development is a 15,000-SF office building at 1 Halsted Circle in Rogers.