Rogers’ Scottsdale Center Hops With Success

When Tom Hopper looked at acres of west Rogers pastureland, he saw a different sort of green. And while others looked at his development of Scottsdale Center as a gamble in the mid-1990s, he saw it as a way to bring Rogers into the 21st century.

Scottsdale Center, near the Walnut Avenue and Interstate 540 intersection, helped move the location of the heart of Rogers’ business district by pumping life into the town’s economy with a variety of retail stores and restaurants.

Tom Ginn, director of community development at the Rogers/Lowell Chamber of Commerce, said Hopper had to convince national businesses to locate at Scottsdale Center in its early planning stages back in 1994. But after National Home Centers — now the home of Lowe’s — became the first tenant, others began to vigorously follow.

“It just progressed from there,” Ginn said. “Hopper had a different vision. He felt in that vision that we were underserved in retail and he felt like [Scottsdale] was going to be a hotspot. He took a risk, but I think it’s paid off. It wasn’t that long ago that it was just a field out there. Now he’s generated a lot of business and a lot of tax revenue for the city.”

The 120-acre site now has 500,000 SF of commercial space in 21 buildings. Lowe’s is the largest building at the site with 200,000 SF. Financing for the $50 million first phase of the project has been provided by First Security Bank.

Scottsdale Center was designed by Crafton, Tull & Associates Inc. of Rogers. Nabholz is the general contractor. Hopper is joined by Lemuel Tull and Jack McHaney as managing partners of Tallgrass Development LLC.

Hopper said much of the area has yet to be developed, although there are plans for the future.

Quelling fears that the downtown Rogers business district will slowly wither away with the development west of town, Hopper said, “Rising tides raise all boats. I think you’ll find that’s the case with downtown, too.”

Scottsdale Center is already home to Lowe’s, Kohl’s, Malco Theaters, Applebee’s, Chili’s, Dixie Cafe, Kisor’s and soon Colton’s Steakhouse. Also, it was announced recently that The Gap, Belk, O’Charley’s Restaurant, Fairfield Inn, Candlepoint Inn, Pier 1 Imports, Linens ‘n Things and Old Navy will open there by next spring.

“It came down to being able to see where growth would take place and the demand for services that were going to be needed,” Hopper said. “We did it based upon economics. The changes that have taken place in all of Benton County have been what has enabled this to happen. There’s no magic to it. The Hunts and Tysons and Waltons have all been an integral part of the development with the success they’ve had.”

Hopper also credited Arnold Lehman and Carmen Lehman for their development of Village on the Creeks and Collins Haynes and Gary Combs of Pinnacle Point for Rogers’ economic surge over the last decade.

“The common thread is quality,” Hopper said. “Every building at those sites are quality facilities. We have people willing to build and go now because they know there’s going to be quality facilities next to them. I don’t think anybody can afford to come through here and build anything less and compete. We’re not talking about using golden nails. We’re just talking about quality.”

Hopper believes the entire stretch next to I-540 from the Pleasant Grove Road exit north to Arkansas Highway 102 will see similar development in the future.

Scottsdale also will soon have the new Barrington Centre, an upscale, four-story office complex, as a neighbor.

The continuous development in the area has made for some traffic problems, something Hopper believes will be alleviated somewhat with the installation of a stoplight at the intersection of Olive and 46th streets.