Dixie Development Helps Traffic Woes

In an ironic twist, more development planned for the bustling North Hills area in Fayetteville is expected to actually help ease traffic problems.

Ben Israel, president and CEO of Dixie Management and Investment, and partners Phil Phillips and Tom Muccio have plans for 14 office buildings totaling 150,000 SF on the former private airplane landing strip between Appleby Road and Drake Street.

The future Bob Younkin Drive will split the 17-acre strip that begins directly south across Appleby Road from the new Washington Regional Medical Center entrance and north across Drake Street from the back entrance into the Lakeside Village apartment complex.

Traffic at the two nearest entry points onto nearby Gregg Avenue from North Hills are often severely backed up. That was the case even before WRMC moved into its new confines Aug. 27.

The development also will include another 2.5-acre patch on Appleby Road for a total of 19.5 acres that have been rezoned from A1 (agriculture) to RO (residential office).

Residents of Quail Creek subdivision, located to the immediate west of the future development, have met four times with Israel.

“[Quail Creek residents] are saying to us, ‘Please come quickly,'” Israel said. “They can’t even get into their driveways sometimes the traffic is so backed up.”

Israel said the plan’s progress through the city’s formalities have gone smoothly so far.

“It’s good that we’re forced to meet with the [local residents] by the city,” Israel said. “Everybody gets to say their piece, and they don’t feel like they’re being run over.

“It does take longer and cost more that way. We had to prove to the city we’d do what we said we’d do. But we’ve gotten used to dealing with [the city’s] bureaucracy.”

Israel hopes Bob Younkin Drive will be built by next summer. Plans are for all one-level buildings with the exception of a couple of multilevel buildings fronting Appleby Road.

City officials and WRMC employees and guests are all hoping for some way to alleviate nearby traffic problems on Futrall Drive to the immediate north of WRMC and Appleby Road to its south.

Israel said Bob Younkin Drive would help out tremendously since it will give those going to and from WRMC a direct shot to the four-laned Drake Street, which connects to Fayetteville’s main artery, College Avenue.

“Due to the fact that we have not seen a plan yet, we cannot make any determination on how it will affect Washington Regional,” said Aubrey Carrington, a spokesperson for WRMC.

Fayetteville Mayor Dan Coody was not as reserved.

“I feel certain that we’re going to alleviate a lot of the traffic that’s having to zig zag through the neighborhoods over there right now,” Coody said. “It’s not a good situation as it is. I think [Dixie’s] development does a couple of things. One, it’s going to help all traffic moving through the neighborhoods and bring it to a street that has a more commercial feel. That will help get traffic through to the hospital better. Second, it’s a perfect development for that land at that location. Obviously, its proximity to the hospital is going to present more opportunities for doctors’ offices to be there and build a synergy around the hospital that we expect to happen.”

Israel said the “high-quality” office buildings will rent from $12.50 to $15 per SF. There will be a walking path around the development, which will be nicely landscaped, Israel said.

Among other commercial properties under Dixie’s management are Commerce Park, Joyce Business Center and Sunbridge Center (14 buildings) in Fayetteville, and Signature Square, Country Club Center and the ThompsonMurray building in Springdale.

Joyce Business Center, located north across Joyce Boulevard from Paradise Valley Athletic Club, eventually will have four buildings with 40,000 total SF.

Commerce Park, which is west across Old Missouri Road from PVAC, will have phase II construction beginning in the next six months. It will be one four-story building with 45,000 SF. Israel expects that building to be occupied within the next two years.

Signature Square, in southeast Springdale on Arkansas Highway 265, will have 90,000 SF. Country Club Center has 70,000 SF.

Also, Dixie has nine- and 15-acre tracts of land on 48th Street in Springdale it plans to develop.

(Click here to read about Dixie’s other business dealings.)