Monroe Corners Could Get City ?Squared Away?

Real estate’s old adage “location, location, location” is fitting for the ever-growing town of Lowell.

Positioned in the near-geographic center of Northwest Arkansas’ four largest cities, Lowell’s population more than tripled from 1,224 in 1990 to 5,013 in 2000.

But Lowell is still seen by many people as an industrial area with little or no aesthetic qualities, said Phil Swope, the city engineer. Mayor Phil Biggers said he and other Lowell residents hope to change that perception by developing a new downtown from scratch.

“My vision is to have a really vital downtown Lowell, but there’s not really a place to revitalize,” said Biggers.

A five-member task force has been organized to look into what it will take to plan a downtown and attract more retail business. Still in the preliminary stages, the task force has met only once, Biggers said.

But it’s already clear that the project will be tied to Monroe Corners Phase II — a 23-acre development planned for the southwest corner of Lincoln Street and East Monroe Avenue (Arkansas Highway 264). The area is less than a half mile east of North Bloomington Street (U.S. Highway 71).

The area tabbed for new commercial projects is only a couple of blocks from Lowell’s now nearly nonexistent old downtown and current city hall.

Monroe Corners will likely serve as the standard by which Biggers’ task force will plan the new downtown, city officials said. It’s made up of three lots totaling 11 acres owned by Burkes & Burkes Development of Lowell, and eight lots totaling 12 acres owned by Bill Schwyhart, a principal with The Pinnacle Group in Rogers.

“The Burkes brothers have been real involved,” Swope said. “I think the mayor has always had a vision for this area, but with what Burkes & Burkes has done, we’ve all gotten excited.”

Aaron Burkes said the new development was Monroe Corners’ first phase, which was developed in 1995 and 1996 by Tom Coleman of Dallas. That included Lowell’s modern post office and the Arvest Bank-Lowell branch.

So plats for the latest project were already approved when Burkes bought the land three years ago.

Burkes has one two-story building under construction on the site, a 12,000-SF facility where the top floor has already been pre-leased by The Benham Companies Inc. Benham is an architectural and engineering firm.

Burkes has a letter of intent from the city of Lowell to lease the first floor to house the mayor’s office and the planning commission, allowing the police and fire departments to take over the existing City Hall building.

The project, which is in compliance with a construction moratorium established in July, will cost about $1.35 million, Burkes said.

“We’re trying to coordinate it architecturally all together so it looks good,” Burkes said.

Gary Carnahan, Arkansas division vice president for The Benham Companies, said the close proximity to Interstate 540 and the building’s central location to Bentonville/Rogers and Fayetteville/ Springdale were major factors in his firm’s decision.

“Our landlord happens to be one of our clients, so we have the opportunity to design our own space, and also the neighborhood in which we will live,” Carnahan said.

The Benham Companies has a total of five contracts to design buildings in the new phase of Monroe Corners.

Swope said the town needs to attract more retail business so residents won’t have to shoulder higher taxes.

“Probably the highest priority we see now is a higher-class restaurant,” Swope said, referring to the population of fast food joints which pepper the landscape along Bloomington Street.