38 replies to this topic

[zman9810]

Mith242, on 09 June 2010 - 03:39 PM, said:

Took me a while before I saw this.  Looks like aside from Bentonville the same people are looking at Austin and Cincinnati as future locations as well.  Renderings for those two locations but nothing yet for Bentonville.  I saw mention of 130 rooms that I had seen in the articles I'd read.  But not sure if I'd seen the mention of it being a five story building.

Yeah, I read a five story building, 130 rooms, 120,000 sq. ft with some meeting space and an art gallery. The gallery will have rotating exhibitions. They would have locally grown food served. Nightly rate of $190 which isn't too bad for the type of hotel it seems to be. Sounds great.

I also read that there is 50% room occupancy rate in NWA right now- no wonder I saw a room rate of $19.95 advertised today. That shouldn't affect this project though.

Edited by zman9810, 10 June 2010 - 08:32 PM.

[KJW]

Kinda surreal to see this: a Mercedes-Benz dealership is building their new showroom right in front of the new Sam's Club (old Superior Building) offices on Moberly avenue in east Bentonville.  Looks like they're working on it as I type this - wasn't that in Fayetteville earlier, or is this A) a second location or B) a new firm?

I'm not bemoaning whatsoever anyone who buys luxury autos - in fact, I hope it helps our local economy significantly somehow.

[Mith242]

KJW, on 14 June 2010 - 01:45 PM, said:

Kinda surreal to see this: a Mercedes-Benz dealership is building their new showroom right in front of the new Sam's Club (old Superior Building) offices on Moberly avenue in east Bentonville.  Looks like they're working on it as I type this - wasn't that in Fayetteville earlier, or is this A) a second location or B) a new firm?

I'm not bemoaning whatsoever anyone who buys luxury autos - in fact, I hope it helps our local economy significantly somehow.

I'm guessing it's a second location or a different group.  I believe the one in Fayetteville is still open.  It's located on College Ave on the north side of town.

[thewizard16]

KJW, on 14 June 2010 - 01:45 PM, said:

Kinda surreal to see this: a Mercedes-Benz dealership is building their new showroom right in front of the new Sam's Club (old Superior Building) offices on Moberly avenue in east Bentonville.  Looks like they're working on it as I type this - wasn't that in Fayetteville earlier, or is this A) a second location or B) a new firm?

I'm not bemoaning whatsoever anyone who buys luxury autos - in fact, I hope it helps our local economy significantly somehow.

It's a new location, the one in Fayetteville is still open and will remain open. One dealership we're missing is Lexus, which has somewhat baffled me since I moved here. Mercedes, BMW, but no Lexus.

[Mith242]

thewizard16, on 15 June 2010 - 08:35 AM, said:

It's a new location, the one in Fayetteville is still open and will remain open. One dealership we're missing is Lexus, which has somewhat baffled me since I moved here. Mercedes, BMW, but no Lexus.

True.  For that matter for some reason we seem to be lacking in general when it comes to car dealerships with other metros our size.  I don't know if it's because we've grown relatively quickly while other metros are more established.  Or maybe it's because we're not as centralized as most metros with one dominate city.

[aerotive]

I know that import makes do less well the farther you get from the coasts and big cities.  I would think that would motivate the dealers in Tulsa, Springfield, and LR to strongly lobby against a new dealership on the periphery of each of their regions.

Edited by aerotive, 15 June 2010 - 02:40 PM.

[Mith242]

aerotive, on 15 June 2010 - 02:39 PM, said:

I know that import makes do less well the farther you get from the coasts and big cities.  I would think that would motivate the dealers in Tulsa, Springfield, and LR to strongly lobby against a new dealership on the periphery of each of their regions.

Our location might have something to do with it as well.  Being located somewhat near other established metros.

[KJW]

1.  There are now signs indicating a new BMW dealership (south side) and Cadillac dealership (north side) will be built on either side of the aforementioned new Mercedes dealership in Bentonville.

2. The Bentonville schools web site now says that Bentonville High has 3,572 students.  How big is that?  Well, if BHS were uprooted and moved to Texas, it would be around the 18th biggest high school in that state.  Amazing.

(On a high school note showing how competitive NWA is becoming, this fall, local schools in football will play St. Louis- (Bentonville, for the third straight year, O'Fallon Ft. Zumwalt West; Fayetteville, St. Louis Parkway West) and Dallas-area (Bentonville, Texarkana Texas High (in a district with many D/FW area schools); Shiloh Christian, Euless Trinity) high schools.

And not just ANY St. Louis and Dallas-area schools.  Fort Zumwalt West was ranked as high as #1 in the St. Louis area (Missouri-side) two years ago when BHS beat them.  Texas High won the Texas 4A state championship in 2002.  Euless Trinity has won something like THREE Texas 5A state championships since 2006.

Think we'd have seen this happen even 10 years ago?)

Edited by KJW, 20 August 2010 - 05:42 PM.

[Mith242]

KJW, on 20 August 2010 - 05:40 PM, said:

1.  There are now signs indicating a new BMW dealership (south side) and Cadillac dealership (north side) will be built on either side of the aforementioned new Mercedes dealership in Bentonville.

2. The Bentonville schools web site now says that Bentonville High has 3,572 students.  How big is that?  Well, if BHS were uprooted and moved to Texas, it would be around the 18th biggest high school in that state.  Amazing.

(On a high school note showing how competitive NWA is becoming, this fall, local schools in football will play St. Louis- (Bentonville, for the third straight year, O'Fallon Ft. Zumwalt West; Fayetteville, St. Louis Parkway West) and Dallas-area (Bentonville, Texarkana Texas High (in a district with many D/FW area schools); Shiloh Christian, Euless Trinity) high schools.

And not just ANY St. Louis and Dallas-area schools.  Fort Zumwalt West was ranked as high as #1 in the St. Louis area (Missouri-side) two years ago when BHS beat them.  Texas High won the Texas 4A state championship in 2002.  Euless Trinity has won something like THREE Texas 5A state championships since 2006.

Think we'd have seen this happen even 10 years ago?)

Hasn't there been some talk of splitting the Bentonville high school in the near future like Springdale and Rogers?  Sounds like enrollment is up just about everywhere in NWA.

[wmr]

I just had a few thoughts I thought I'd put here.  

For a community that I thought saw itself as something different or "high end" for NWA, Bentonville sure has let itself get really ugly.

I was up there the other day and I was struck by how incredibly ugly Walton Boulevard has become.  Its sad.  With even a little forward thinking, the street could have looked much better.  Most of the development along Walton between Rainbow Curve and 540 has taken place over the last 10 years.  Fayetteville has been regulating signage for 30 years, and landscape requirements for 20 years.  Its not like Bentonville didn't have a decent local example to follow.

Walton Boulevard is no better looking than Sunset in Springdale to me.  Its sad.  The growth was going to happen regardless of restrictions and zoning and better ordinances.  The real face of Bentonville is now giant, ugly signs of varying heights and enormous proportions.  It appears to have more strip malls than probably any other place in the USA per capita.  

I'm disappointed at how Bentonville has grown without any apparent guidance from its planning department.

Edited by wmr, 17 March 2011 - 10:27 PM.

[thewizard16]

I didn't see anyone post this yet, but back on the subject of the 21c Hotel, ground was broken on Tuesday:
http://www.nwaonline...aks-ground-21c/

I have to admit, I'm quite underwhelmed by the rendering of the project. Even if the interior is particularly nice, the exterior design of the hotel is not something I'd qualify as timeless or architecturally distinctive, which are characteristics I had hoped for with such a significant project. Here is the picture of the rendering from the article:



And some quotes from the article about the building:

Quote

Onlookers gathered around artist renderings of the boutique hotel, taking in the contemporary building with its clean, rectangular lines augmented by rows of trees and the hotel’s signature red penguins. The 100,000-square-foot property will feature 104 guest bedrooms, gallery space, a restaurant, a ballroom and meeting rooms. Galleries and an outdoor sculpture garden will incorporate works by living artists and will be free to the public.

Quote

Each 21c Museum Hotel is a unique creation designed to fit into the surrounding landscape, Berke said.

Quote

“We hope to show that contemporary architectural ideas can be incorporated into the city and add to its character,” Berke said. “We’d like people to see that you don’t have to imitate the past.”

I appreciate good contemporary architecture, but I have to disagree with Ms. Berke on this project. I don't see her building as blending especially well with the existing downtown Bentonville or being unique or interesting enough to "add to its character". Although Bentonville did not have the existing historically significant buildings to renovate for a hotel like they did in Louisville, I think they could have done better for the design of a new building that is supposed to be a new icon for downtown Bentonville.

[Mith242]

thewizard16, on 08 December 2011 - 03:02 AM, said:

I didn't see anyone post this yet, but back on the subject of the 21c Hotel, ground was broken on Tuesday:
http://www.nwaonline...aks-ground-21c/

I have to admit, I'm quite underwhelmed by the rendering of the project. Even if the interior is particularly nice, the exterior design of the hotel is not something I'd qualify as timeless or architecturally distinctive, which are characteristics I had hoped for with such a significant project. Here is the picture of the rendering from the article:



And some quotes from the article about the building:







I appreciate good contemporary architecture, but I have to disagree with Ms. Berke on this project. I don't see her building as blending especially well with the existing downtown Bentonville or being unique or interesting enough to "add to its character". Although Bentonville did not have the existing historically significant buildings to renovate for a hotel like they did in Louisville, I think they could have done better for the design of a new building that is supposed to be a new icon for downtown Bentonville.

Yeah I also have to agree I was underwhelmed by the rendering.  As you said, the interior might be very nice.  But I was expecting a little more from the exterior for a hotel like this.  Perhaps the actual building will turn out better that what's shown in the rendering.

[ash72704]

I hope there's more to it than meets the eye.  Sorry if this offends anyone, but when I first saw it I thought "If it were painted beige I'd swear it was a Hampton Inn".

[thewizard16]

ash72704, on 08 December 2011 - 10:42 PM, said:

I hope there's more to it than meets the eye.  Sorry if this offends anyone, but when I first saw it I thought "If it were painted beige I'd swear it was a Hampton Inn".

You're right. It looks a lot like a newer Hampton, or even the newest Holiday Inn Express hotels if it were painted beige.

[RemusCal]

http://www.traveland...ions-of-2012/13

Congrats to Bentonville for being rated as the Top 2012 Must See Destinations in Travel & Leisure.  It was the ONLY U.S. city listed in the top destinations!  The impact on the local economy and on becoming a world class destinations will bring in lots of new retailers, and help stimulate the local economy.  This is really great news!

[Mith242]

RemusCal, on 20 December 2011 - 02:00 PM, said:

http://www.traveland...ions-of-2012/13

Congrats to Bentonville for being rated as the Top 2012 Must See Destinations in Travel & Leisure.  It was the ONLY U.S. city listed in the top destinations!  The impact on the local economy and on becoming a world class destinations will bring in lots of new retailers, and help stimulate the local economy.  This is really great news!

You beat me to it.     Just noticed that myself and came over here to post it.

[Julles]

Does anyone know what's going up next to McDonalds in north Bentonville/south Bella Vista (next to Lowe's)?   They are moving dirt and it looks to be a larger space than McDonalds occupies.    That's our neck if the woods, and I'm curious.

[KJW]

Hey, Julles - good to talk with you again.  Saw the same thing at the window when picking up a meal for my family - the girl at the window said they'd heard it was a physician's office.

[Julles]

Thanks, KJW, nice to talk to you again too.  Thanks for the info.    I was hoping for a Starbucks or Panera........Dream on, right? .   I will be excited if it turns out to be my physician.