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The Shoppes at North Hills

tim2462

By tim2462
in Little Rock Metropolitan Area

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tim2462 Hamlet

tim2462

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Does anyone know what has happened with this project? I know they had a few problems with the wetland area, but the game and fish commission approved the project almost a year ago. Nothing has been mentioned in the news about this project in a very long time. As far as I know, they haven't even done any site work over there. Aporkalypse posted some pics in another topic from their website. I went to the website...All of the info is old, they haven't had any new news on there since 2003. According to the website, the Bass Pro Shops was suppose to open in the fall of '04 and the rest of it was to open in the spring of '05...but nothing has even been done. I think I will call them tomorrow and find out what the holdup is.

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Mith242 Gigalopolis

Mith242

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Does anyone know what has happened with this project? I know they had a few problems with the wetland area, but the game and fish commission approved the project almost a year ago. Nothing has been mentioned in the news about this project in a very long time. As far as I know, they haven't even done any site work over there. Aporkalypse posted some pics in another topic from their website. I went to the website...All of the info is old, they haven't had any new news on there since 2003. According to the website, the Bass Pro Shops was suppose to open in the fall of '04 and the rest of it was to open in the spring of '05...but nothing has even been done. I think I will call them tomorrow and find out what the holdup is.

Where exactly is this located? :D

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tim2462 Hamlet

tim2462

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Maybe...if they ever build this one. On the website, they even had the president of Bass Pro in North Little Rock announcing that they would be the first tenant. The wetland park that will be adjacent to the Bass Pro Shop, is going to be like 80 acres of parkland that will represent all 6 regions in the state. It's a really neat concept, but why haven't they started any of it?

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Mith242 Gigalopolis

Mith242

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Maybe...if they ever build this one. On the website, they even had the president of Bass Pro in North Little Rock announcing that they would be the first tenant. The wetland park that will be adjacent to the Bass Pro Shop, is going to be like 80 acres of parkland that will represent all 6 regions in the state. It's a really neat concept, but why haven't they started any of it?

The Ozarks and Crowley's Ridge too?

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tim2462 Hamlet

tim2462

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The Ozarks and Crowley's Ridge too?

Not sure about Crowley's Ridge...but yes it will represent the Ozarks.

Exceprt from the website http://www.theshoppesatnorthhills.com

"The Shoppes at North Hills will include a 70-acre "themed" mitigation park for the entertainment and education of visitors. "The park will feature more than 2.3 miles of park trails and landscaping that represents the diverse regions of Arkansas: the Ozark Mountains, the Ouachita Mountains, the River Valley, the Timberlands, the Mississippi River Delta, and Central Arkansas."

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tim2462 Hamlet

tim2462

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I found this article from the Arkansas Times, it's the most recent mentioning I have been able to find.

However, it still doesn't say much about it, it's more about things in the area.

http://www.arktimes.com/Articles/ArticleVi...87-beaaa9bd4e1d

This article talks more about the project and some problems that they are having.

http://www.arktimes.com/Articles/ArticleVi...a5-bcc1cd94668e

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Mith242 Gigalopolis

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I'm not sure how they could represent either very well to be honest. Maybe they're talking about having some trees and vegetation from both areas. But aside from that it would seem hard to me for the to replicate either of those areas. Since you've mentioned this I'm wondering what's going on with some land up here that was also supposed to be some sort of park that would be associated with the Audubon Society. It wouldn't have all the different regions or anything represented like that one though.

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tim2462 Hamlet

tim2462

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Well, it looks like traffic and not knowing what do do with it or how to get funding to do anything with it is the major problem preventing this development from getting started. Hopefully they will figure all of this out and get on with it. The developers really need to update their website and let the public know what's going on.

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Aporkalypse City

Aporkalypse

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The original developer for that site really had his act together, planning on building something called a Spectrum Center he had done repeatedly out West in places like Irvine and Boise, an entertainment complex built around a 35-screen theater with retail and 16 restaurant pads. The wetland permits were slow to come and subsequently a collapse in the movie industry nationally soured him on all of his projects.

This proposal is really pretty weak for such a prime site. Again, this is the highest visibility prime real-estate site in Arkansas. A second rate development won't work there.

I stated in another thread that this whole group of interchanges needs to be reworked. That segment of I-40 is 8 lanes and carries all of the traffic from 67/167 from NLR, Sherwood, Jacksonville, Cabot, etc as well as all I-40 traffic eastbound from LR, essentially merging two busy major freeways. I agree that there needs to be a plan to improve access to that site as there is no other way to get there save crossing the interstate on North Hills Blvd.

Still, the wetlands issue may be overstated. Practically every Florida development south of Orlando goes through this same process.

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Aporkalypse City

Aporkalypse

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Anybody have any updates on this project?

It was on hold because of a lawsuit against the Corp of Engineers, who approved the site, until a month or two ago. The judge dismissed the suit because the "birdwatchers" and "fishermen" that supposedly used the "wetland" never set foot on it until the development was announced. If you've seen the site you'd know there is nothing beautiful or natural about it, it's a trash-filled swamp between the highway and an old housing project.

I don't know if excavation has started yet but they now have the green light.

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Aporkalypse City

Aporkalypse

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They really need to rework things there to accomodate traffic. The interstate through there is very busy and the overpass for North Hills Blvd is only two lane and already carries Lakewood traffic and is an alternate route to McCain and Lakewood Village. Traffic on North Hills Blvd would increase several-fold with this development.

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Architect Town

Architect

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The official website is no longer up (dont know what that means?) The Belz website has info on the development itself, but there are no updates on its progress.

Shoppes at North Hills

I can't imagine how this could still be that viable in lieu of the significant delays, loss of momentum, and competitors now under construction (and about to open) with premium tenants already locked up. The only chance this has is for the mid-grade tenants that could support 2 locations in the metro area - its advantage is its distance from the midtown and west LR markets.

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diatom Unincorporated Area

diatom

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It was on hold because of a lawsuit against the Corp of Engineers, who approved the site, until a month or two ago. The judge dismissed the suit because the "birdwatchers" and "fishermen" that supposedly used the "wetland" never set foot on it until the development was announced. If you've seen the site you'd know there is nothing beautiful or natural about it, it's a trash-filled swamp between the highway and an old housing project.

I don't know if excavation has started yet but they now have the green light.

Porkman,

As someone who is intelligence as yourself should know better than to judge the value of some wetland as insignificant just because you don't find it appealing to the eye. Since you are in the medical field, think of this site as a lymph node that filters the drainage from North Hills. I myself am in the medical field and worked first as a field biologist. The lymph node isn't pretty but it does a great job.

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Aporkalypse City

Aporkalypse

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Porkman,

As someone who is intelligence as yourself should know better than to judge the value of some wetland as insignificant just because you don't find it appealing to the eye. Since you are in the medical field, think of this site as a lymph node that filters the drainage from North Hills. I myself am in the medical field and worked first as a field biologist. The lymph node isn't pretty but it does a great job.

Have you been to that site before? I grew up in North Little Rock not far from there and I know the area well. I'm all for preserving wetlands and there are many swamps in Central Arkansas I would fight against developing. In this case, though, I know first hand that it's an eyesore that is marginally a "wetland" and serves primarily to accumulate trash. Where does that filtered water end up? We're not exactly talking about the Everglades here.

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