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Housing market in Fayetteville


mzweig

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A sometimes overlooked area I have looked into is the area surrounding Woodland Junior High, roughly from Sycamore to Colt Square.

This area is mostly 1950 and 60s homes, but there are some super little craftsmans sprinkled here and there.

Its a very convenient area.

Some of the homes, particularly the older ones from the 30s and 40s sit on VERY large lots. Lots of an acre or more, particularly in the Elm/Erstan/Baker area.

I've thought of buying a fixer upper on Elm and plopping one or two neo Craftsman bungalows on the adjacent property.

While I'm feeling generous with my thoughts, I also think that Colt Square and the adjacent Swepco property are just begging to be bought up and mixed use redeveloped. Colt Square already has a traditional town type format, and there is room for some residential buildings on some of the lots.

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Great location certainly. Watch out or some developer might come along and try to buy it and a few other ones near it to put in some sort of development. :lol:

Trying to get something rezoned in Fayetteville is tough work. It takes patience to build there instead of elsewhere in NWA but that's why its character is largely being preserved.

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A sometimes overlooked area I have looked into is the area surrounding Woodland Junior High, roughly from Sycamore to Colt Square.

This area is mostly 1950 and 60s homes, but there are some super little craftsmans sprinkled here and there.

Its a very convenient area.

Some of the homes, particularly the older ones from the 30s and 40s sit on VERY large lots. Lots of an acre or more, particularly in the Elm/Erstan/Baker area.

I've thought of buying a fixer upper on Elm and plopping one or two neo Craftsman bungalows on the adjacent property.

While I'm feeling generous with my thoughts, I also think that Colt Square and the adjacent Swepco property are just begging to be bought up and mixed use redeveloped. Colt Square already has a traditional town type format, and there is room for some residential buildings on some of the lots.

I agree with you on this area. Unfortunately, the prices have already gone up quite a bit over there. It's still semi-affordable though and very conveniently located. I have some friends who have bought over there and mady tidy little profits after doing some rehabs and/or lots splits to get additonal houses in. There's a shortage of houses for sale at a decent price now, however.

I'm happy to hear that another home in downtown Fayetteville is being rehabed. Once the older houses are gone, they are gone. Not every 1890-1930 home can be saved but I hope folks understand their value to Fayetteville's character and put them to good reuse rather than razing them or moving them all.

Amen, Thia. We are all about preservation (of what's worth saving!)

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I do believe in preserving what we can of our older homes and buildings. Although I do think we have to allow some redevelopment. If we save everything then we get back to pushing development to the outskirts of the city. Although that being said I do thing for the time being there's plenty of areas like College Ave that are open to redevelopment instead of going after some of our older neighborhoods.

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I do believe in preserving what we can of our older homes and buildings. Although I do think we have to allow some redevelopment. If we save everything then we get back to pushing development to the outskirts of the city. Although that being said I do thing for the time being there's plenty of areas like College Ave that are open to redevelopment instead of going after some of our older neighborhoods.

Rod--you and I seem to agree that College Ave. is our most critical area to redevelop. It seems like everything is stalled there other than Lacuna finally getting done. I hope Growth Group gets going on some of their land there between Prospect and Maple. I think they are our best hope right now.

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Rod--you and I seem to agree that College Ave. is our most critical area to redevelop. It seems like everything is stalled there other than Lacuna finally getting done. I hope Growth Group gets going on some of their land there between Prospect and Maple. I think they are our best hope right now.

Yeah I think eventually in the future we might have to take a more serious look at what older neighborhoods are going to be preserved. But for now there's no need in going after anything there when there's so much space that needs to be redeveloped along College.

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Yeah I think eventually in the future we might have to take a more serious look at what older neighborhoods are going to be preserved. But for now there's no need in going after anything there when there's so much space that needs to be redeveloped along College.

Does anyone in Fayetteville NOT believe College is the city's highes priority for redevelopment? It's an eyesore on an otherwise attractive college town. It would be worth every penny spent on it.

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Does anyone in Fayetteville NOT believe College is the city's highes priority for redevelopment? It's an eyesore on an otherwise attractive college town. It would be worth every penny spent on it.

There's probably a few, I mean this is Fayetteville. :lol: But yeah I think it's pretty obvious to everyone, now if we just get the ball rolling.

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There's probably a few, I mean this is Fayetteville. :lol: But yeah I think it's pretty obvious to everyone, now if we just get the ball rolling.

You just have to wonder what it's going to take to get something going on College. Lacuna was a big investment and a nice project but it's not enough. The developers of Ruskin Heights I doubt will take on the Wilson Park crowd while Ruskin Heights is still in its birthing phase. There are many parcels that are owned by individuals but the generally bad press on the real estate market here may be scaring some of them off from doing anything that could be financially risky. I just don't know what's going to make it happen!

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Just a random thought about that section of College Ave.

While driving downtown the other day, I realized that if pedestrian improvements can make their way from downtown to the North Street area, a fairly easy extension of trail/sidewalk/pedestrian friendly improvements can be made all the way to Sycamore and the park on the hill behind McDonald's.

The reason is the VA campus, which is largely greenspace, fronts College Ave there for a ways.

Currently its boudaried by an ugly chainlink fence.

Surely the city could get the VA to dedicate some right of way there for a nice pedestrian connection over the hill if improvements to north College Ave can start happening soon.

I believe a trail would work nicely if it cut through this park area and hooked up to the natural hillside park on Sycamore.

Dreaming even further, it could easily be extended via sidewalk connections to connect to the Woodlands Junior High campus down the hill from Sycamore.

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Just a random thought about that section of College Ave.

While driving downtown the other day, I realized that if pedestrian improvements can make their way from downtown to the North Street area, a fairly easy extension of trail/sidewalk/pedestrian friendly improvements can be made all the way to Sycamore and the park on the hill behind McDonald's.

The reason is the VA campus, which is largely greenspace, fronts College Ave there for a ways.

Currently its boudaried by an ugly chainlink fence.

Surely the city could get the VA to dedicate some right of way there for a nice pedestrian connection over the hill if improvements to north College Ave can start happening soon.

I believe a trail would work nicely if it cut through this park area and hooked up to the natural hillside park on Sycamore.

Dreaming even further, it could easily be extended via sidewalk connections to connect to the Woodlands Junior High campus down the hill from Sycamore.

Interesting idea. Not sure if I've seen that little area included into the Fayetteville trail system.

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Just a random thought about that section of College Ave.

While driving downtown the other day, I realized that if pedestrian improvements can make their way from downtown to the North Street area, a fairly easy extension of trail/sidewalk/pedestrian friendly improvements can be made all the way to Sycamore and the park on the hill behind McDonald's.

The reason is the VA campus, which is largely greenspace, fronts College Ave there for a ways.

Currently its boudaried by an ugly chainlink fence.

Surely the city could get the VA to dedicate some right of way there for a nice pedestrian connection over the hill if improvements to north College Ave can start happening soon.

I believe a trail would work nicely if it cut through this park area and hooked up to the natural hillside park on Sycamore.

Dreaming even further, it could easily be extended via sidewalk connections to connect to the Woodlands Junior High campus down the hill from Sycamore.

Good ideas! It looks like most of them were included in the FATT trail and on-street linkages plan.

http://accessfayetteville.org/pdfs/downloa...8&revision=

http://accessfayetteville.org/pdfs/downloa...7&revision=

(Make sure you identify Lake Fayetteville on these maps to orient north, which is not the top of the display.)

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My banker just told me today that he bought a house in the mission/crossover area in Fayetteville for $86 a square foot! It's a 1600 square foot house that needs nothing but carpet. That's a deal, folks. It's a great time to buy around here.

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My banker just told me today that he bought a house in the mission/crossover area in Fayetteville for $86 a square foot! It's a 1600 square foot house that needs nothing but carpet. That's a deal, folks. It's a great time to buy around here.

It's only going to get better from what I hear.

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My banker just told me today that he bought a house in the mission/crossover area in Fayetteville for $86 a square foot! It's a 1600 square foot house that needs nothing but carpet. That's a deal, folks. It's a great time to buy around here.

Sweet. I'm going to check into moving to Fayetteville. Now that my wife is working at home full time we should be able to get a house soon.

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Sweet. I'm going to check into moving to Fayetteville. Now that my wife is working at home full time we should be able to get a house soon.

I saw a really nice little three bed, two bath the other day with a two car garage. Needs nothing, freshly painted, nice carpet, etc. Fenced yard for the doggies. $127K. And only about a mile from campus and a mile from 540.

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I saw a really nice little three bed, two bath the other day with a two car garage. Needs nothing, freshly painted, nice carpet, etc. Fenced yard for the doggies. $127K. And only about a mile from campus and a mile from 540.

Not bad considering $127K doesn't buy much house these days.

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  • 2 weeks later...

O.K.--I am now convinced that we have too many condos coming on line in Fayetteville--at least too many expensive ones. $200-$425 a square foot for white box is just more than most people in this market can afford. You can buy a darn nice house in town for less.

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O.K.--I am now convinced that we have too many condos coming on line in Fayetteville--at least too many expensive ones. $200-$425 a square foot for white box is just more than most people in this market can afford. You can buy a darn nice house in town for less.

Yeah that's my biggest problem. I really like the condo idea itself, gives the area some nice density. But everything is really being aimed at the upper class. I'd still like to see more condo developments take place away from Dickson and the Square. Areas that could produce some cheaper condos for others.

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O.K.--I am now convinced that we have too many condos coming on line in Fayetteville--at least too many expensive ones. $200-$425 a square foot for white box is just more than most people in this market can afford. You can buy a darn nice house in town for less.

It may seem that way but there's not very many expensive condos like this existing or being planned in the rest of the metro. I think there's still plenty of Arkansas Alumni, Wal-Mart Execs, Vendors, and other misc. Millionares that will be buying these condos.

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It may seem that way but there's not very many expensive condos like this existing or being planned in the rest of the metro. I think there's still plenty of Arkansas Alumni, Wal-Mart Execs, Vendors, and other misc. Millionares that will be buying these condos.

I guess only time will tell, Matt.

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  • 2 months later...

Just thought I would report in that the downtown Fayetteville market for single family residential is really strong. There have been quite a few sales down here recently. I made two offers last week on houses--didn't get either--both in the Washington-Willow area. One had been for sale for a long time and got two offers in one day. The other was just listed and the owners didn't know if it would sell for more. It's pretty interesting--there's very strong demand for older houses in solid areas. It's hard to buy down here now.

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Just thought I would report in that the downtown Fayetteville market for single family residential is really strong. There have been quite a few sales down here recently. I made two offers last week on houses--didn't get either--both in the Washington-Willow area. One had been for sale for a long time and got two offers in one day. The other was just listed and the owners didn't know if it would sell for more. It's pretty interesting--there's very strong demand for older houses in solid areas. It's hard to buy down here now.

Yeah the Washington-Willow area always seems to be a very high demand area. When you look at it, there's only so many older homes that have some style to it. I imagine not everyone wants a cookie cutter house.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Yeah the Washington-Willow area always seems to be a very high demand area. When you look at it, there's only so many older homes that have some style to it. I imagine not everyone wants a cookie cutter house.

We had an open house today at my house at 412 E. Lafayette ("Sweet Lafayette") and more than 125 people came through it. My realtor said it was the most successful open house of his career. I would say this is some indication of the strong housing market in downtown Fayetteville! I am hoping to get another house in Washington-Willow under agreement this week.

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