Isreal Trades Doctoring for Developing Property

Ten years ago, Ben Israel was building a chain of optical stores. Today, he is building a commercial real estate development company.

Israel is forming Dixie Development LLC to handle his real estate interests in Northwest Arkansas. The company will include a management division, a construction company, a real estate company, an architecture service and building maintenance services. He plans to have the company and subsidiaries organized and operating within 60 days.

“We have put it all under one roof,” Israel says. “I want to build another good company.”

Israel’s first company was a chain of 171 optical stores in 26 states that operated in Sam’s Club stores. Israel started the partnership with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. of Bentonville in 1987 when he opened an optical store in Topeka, Kan. In 1990, Israel opened 90 more stores. He had 800 employees when he sold his interest in the stores in 1993, the year after the death of Sam Walton.

Currently, Israel sees patients one day a week. The remainder of his time is devoted to his real estate and development business. His son, Jeff Israel, continues the optical practice and manages the 10 stores Israel maintains in Sears stores.

Israel’s new passion is real estate. He is developing the Country Club Center and Country Club Plaza adjacent to the Springdale Country Club. Earlier this year, he bought Signature Square in Springdale and a purchase of The Business Center in Springdale is scheduled to close this month. He also is considering the purchase of a medical office complex in Fayetteville and is negotiating to buy two acres near Rainbow Curve in Bentonville.

“We would like to have a presence in every city in Northwest Arkansas,” Israel says. “Northwest Arkansas is developing and we want to develop with it.”

Country Club Center

His biggest project has been the development of the 40,000-SF Country Club Center. Two of the office buildings are complete and construction of the third building is expected to start within a month.

“The Country Club Center was a statement for us,” Israel says. “We made a decision to build an attractive, quality building. We have found there is a real need for that.”

The office complex is built along the first fairway of the Springdale Country Club golf course and all the offices have views of the course. All the space is rented except for one 2,500-SF office. Israel plans to move his new company into the building by the end of this month.

The 2 1/2 acres weren’t so attractive for developing when Israel bought the land in 1991. The property had been on the market for several years. At that time, the country club was across the highway and a concrete barrier in the median of the highway blocked access to the property from the northbound lane. Israel had planned to keep the land as an investment and eventually sell it to a developer.

Then, two years ago, the country club decided to expand its golf course. The club added nine holes across the highway, directly behind Israel’s property. Israel decided to develop his land.

The regional office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture leases the entire second floor of one of the buildings, a total of 7,500 SF. The USDA moved its offices into the building in April after more than 20 years of leasing space at 216 E. Emma Ave. in Springdale.

“We’re proud to be in a first-class facility,” says Dr. C. H. Schilmoeller, district manager of the USDA office. “If nothing else, it is good for the attitude.”

The first tenant of the complex was MCI Telecommunications Corp. which moved into the building in January 1997. Other tenants in the building include Fort James Co., a paper company that sells its products through Wal-Mart, and Paragon Inc., another Wal-Mart vendor. Pfizer Inc., the New York pharmaceutical company, and the ESI Group, a regional consulting firm, also have offices in the center.

Israel owns the development in a partnership with his brother, Roger, through Country Club Center LLC, one of many corporate names Israel uses.

Just north of the Country Club Center is Country Club Plaza, a 7,580-SF retail shopping center. Israel finished the plaza earlier this year and more than half of the space is leased.

Israel also owns another two acres adjacent to the Country Club Center that he plans to develop within the next five years. He says he wants to build a 40,000-SF, three- or four-story office tower on the land.

Signature Square

Israel has plans to expand Signature Square shopping center in Springdale. He bought the center in March for $3.5 million. He also owns 10 acres adjacent to the 46,000-SF shopping center and wants to use it to add another 75,000 SF of retail space to the development.

The Business Center has six buildings totaling about 26,000 SF with room on the six acres to add another 13,600-SF building. Israel says he plans to start construction soon after the $2 million purchase of the center is completed.

The metamorphosis from optometrist to real estate developer began in 1971 when Israel bought the building that housed his optical company’s office at the intersection of U.S. Highway 71B and Rolling Hills Drive in Fayetteville. Four years later, he bought a building in Lincoln that still houses Lincoln Vision Clinic, which he also operates. In 1984, he added three buildings near the original 16,000-SF building in Fayetteville.

More developing

He has continued to buy and sell other property in Northwest Arkansas. He sees a bright future for the development of the area, he says.

Expanding his investments led to his current effort to organize all his concerns under one company. He has recruited people to head each of the company’s subsidiaries. Don Mobley will head the Don Mobley Architecture division, Gary McClennan will head the MAC Construction Inc. division and DeAnne Wigington, an agent with Harris McHaney Shearin Realtors of Rogers, will head the real estate division.

“We learned a lot in the last company, like the importance of hiring good people,” Israel says. “I want to help them be financially secure, too.”

The company and its subsidiaries also will be available to work for other developers, Israel says. For anyone interested in building commercial property in Northwest Arkansas, Israel’s company can find the real estate, design the building, build it, manage it and do all maintenance.

At 55, Israel says he isn’t considering retirement.

“I like to play golf but I wouldn’t want to do it every day,” Israel says. “My goal is to leave behind a good reputation and people saying they were glad to be associated with me.”