Student Body Anchors Fayettevilles Residential, Commercial Construction

Fueled by the ongoing demand for student housing, Fayetteville is positioned to have a busy 2014 in the construction industry.

While some projects are already under way, a few are still in the planning process but are expected to go under construction sometime next year. Real estate sales, rezoning, building permits and infrastructure are all part of the process, and all together, they have City Hall bustling.

“Multifamily has kept everyone busy,” said development services director Jeremy Pate.

Harvey’s Hill, a project by Specialized Real Estate Group of Fayetteville, will have 175 units with a total of 432 bedrooms. Located on a city block on South Duncan Avenue near campus, the project is still under review but construction is expected to begin next year and could open to tenants as soon as 2015, Pate said.

Harvey’s Hill is right across the street from another SREG project, The Cardinal on West Center, a 471-bedroom, 150-unit apartment building now under construction and expected to open by August 2014.

Jeremy Hudson, CEO of SREG, said both of the complexes are ideally located within a stone’s throw of the Sam M. Walton School of Business and the College of Engineering, not to mention the rest of the University of Arkansas campus and the heart of Fayetteville’s social scene, Dickson Street.

Another project, headed by Rael Development Corp. of California, is located just north of the Collier Drug Stores location on Dickson Street. Plans are for a 124-unit, 233-bedroom apartment complex at the intersection of Watson and Charles streets. Like the development on Duncan Avenue, Watson Street apartments will have its own parking garage.

Hudson said he’s not surprised that a California group like Rael Development would come in from out of state and invest in Fayetteville.

“The student housing market generates a lot of interest,” he said. Looking out into the future, Hudson said the inventory for student housing is not overbuilt.

Major rezoning proposals that would allow for student housing and associated commercial ventures have either been approved or are expected to be approved along Beechwood Avenue south of Martin Luther King Boulevard, on Wedington Drive and on Garland Avenue.

“Fayetteville’s where they want to be, and that demand will drive commercial growth in general,” Pate said.

But multifamily is not the only thing going on in the region’s largest city. Commercial, industrial and residential are also strong.

Manufacturers, a list that includes Karcher NA, Elkhart Products Corp., Superior Industries and American Air Filter, are looking to expand their Fayetteville facilities. And Pacific Vet Group, a maker of products for the poultry and livestock industries, is negotiating a land purchase at the Fayetteville Industrial Park.

Also scheduled to begin next year is the CVS Pharmacy at Township Street and College Avenue. To make way for the 14,000-SF pharmacy, the sagging Days Inn will be torn down. In addition to the CVS project, Fayetteville planners approved a bevy of proposals that include four subdivisions, retail centers, gas stations, warehouses and to the delight of many, a Dunkin Donuts.

Pate says it’s no surprise that retailers like CVS and Dunkin Donuts are coming to Fayetteville.

“A significant amount of private investment is taking place, in part responding to the growth of the university,” he said. “As normal cycles tell us, the residential boom is generally followed by commercial construction to provide the goods and services that an expanded residential base is demanding.”

The city is trying to keep pace with the private sector. The $4.5 million extension of Van Asche Drive from Gregg Avenue to Arkansas Highway 112 begins early next year, and the flyover just south of Joyce Boulevard is expected to be completed in 2014, Pate said.