Northwest Arkansas Still Drives State Economy
by August 2, 2004 12:00 am 72 views
Northwest Arkansas continues to drive the state’s economy with low unemployment, an influx of new residents and a continued construction boom, said Jeff Collins, director of the University of Arkansas’ Center for Business and Economic Research.
Speaking at the CBER’s quarterly business analysis held July 22 at the Springdale Holiday Inn, Collins said the projected June unemployment rate is 3 percent for Northwest Arkansas, compared to 5.7 percent for the entire state.
From June 2003 to June 2004, the number of people working in Arkansas increased by 8,800. But during the same time period, the payroll grew by 11,625 employees in Northwest Arkansas, meaning that the state would have had a decrease in overall jobs if the northwest corner had been excluded from the figures.
Collins said 679 residential lots are under construction in Benton County and 368 are under construction in Washington County.
“Northwest Arkansas is continuing to absorb a very large number of people on a monthly basis … We’re going to see a lot of population growth, and that’s not going to stop,” he said.
And the immigrants generally have more money than the locals, Collins said. Houses between $250,000 and $300,000 in price are snatched up after an average of 27 days on the market in Benton County, he noted.
Collins said the value of overall building permits is the same in Northwest Arkansas as it is in Little Rock, which has a larger population.
Class A retail space is “built out” in Fayetteville, which resulted in an average cost of about $14 per SF on a yearly basis. In Rogers, where Class A retail space is more scarce, the rate is about $19 per SF.
Bentonville appears to be overbuilt with Class A office space, Collins said, but with Wal-Mart vendors continuing to staff offices there, things could change. Class A office space in Bentonville was leasing for about $16 to $17 per SF per year during the second quarter. By comparison, in Fayetteville, Class A office space leased for $17 to $19 per SF.