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College Avenue Developments


mzweig

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I have never once spoken to a retailer or restaurant that has said it is important for them to be near car dealerships. Car dealerships only drive traffic for other car dealerships. I wouldn't worry about it.

The best case would be that the vacant dealerships get a creative reuse, similar to the eco-friendly construction product and paint store that repurposed the Saturn dealership. Tax revenue plus and also a good fit for the community.

Yes, I was happy to see how the Saturn dealership was given new life, I hope that store succeeds. It seems it's more common for old car dealerships to sit empty or be moved into by large used car lots than to get new retail like that though. Lets hope there are some more creative business owners out there willing to utilize those properties.

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Honestly doesn't matter, as car dealerships provide no sales tax revenue to the cities they are in. People will drive a long distance for a good deal on a car. I can understand how it might negatively impact peoples perspective on a market in terms of having high end brands in your city, but really doubt anyone bases their decision on where to live, eat, shop, etc on what car dealerships are nearby.

There's a corollary at least--where you live determines, to a degree, what sorts of new cars are available to you. There are huge swathes of the US where only domestic dealerships are within easy driving distance. For that reason (among others) domestic brands tend to sell really well in remote areas. If people have to drive an hour or two or even more to get warranty parts and service it changes what they're willing to buy.

I'm sure all those captive sales, in part, help the domestics squeak by in lean times.

Now that I'm thinking about it, I don't think I'd buy a new car if the nearest dealer were in Benton county. Would not want to deal with the hassle.

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There's a corollary at least--where you live determines, to a degree, what sorts of new cars are available to you. There are huge swathes of the US where only domestic dealerships are within easy driving distance. For that reason (among others) domestic brands tend to sell really well in remote areas. If people have to drive an hour or two or even more to get warranty parts and service it changes what they're willing to buy.

I'm sure all those captive sales, in part, help the domestics squeak by in lean times.

Now that I'm thinking about it, I don't think I'd buy a new car if the nearest dealer were in Benton county. Would not want to deal with the hassle.

Your point is invalid to the argument. Fayetteville, Springdale, Bentonville, all have the domestic dealerships. Drive to the closest town. Cadillac and Mercedes are literally moving only 20 or so miles north and closer to the interstate. BMW was already in Benton County. It won't hurt Fayetteville other than having one vacant property for a period of time. It will eventually be repurposed, so only a short term issue.

Is driving 20 more minutes for a new luxury car really a deal killer...:dontknow: My guess is, to people that want them...no.

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Your point is invalid to the argument. Fayetteville, Springdale, Bentonville, all have the domestic dealerships. Drive to the closest town. Cadillac and Mercedes are literally moving only 20 or so miles north and closer to the interstate. BMW was already in Benton County. It won't hurt Fayetteville other than having one vacant property for a period of time. It will eventually be repurposed, so only a short term issue.

Is driving 20 more minutes for a new luxury car really a deal killer...:dontknow: My guess is, to people that want them...no.

I'm fairly sure I wasn't referencing an argument.

It'd often be a 40+ minute drive for me.

And yes, a single 20 minute drive to buy a car is nothing. A 40+ minute drive every time the thing needed warranty service could sway some people. Sways me at least. Plus luxury cars often come with free scheduled service for the first few years. Maybe some people are just that willing to waste their time. I wouldn't be.

I know plenty of people who drive, even fly, all over creation simply for the eating and shopping. I'm not going to participate in such things.

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Sad fact is that the dealerships move is just one more indication that Fayetteville is becoming more of a bedroom community for NWA instead of the center of everything. Hank's move, the WAC location decision, NWACC's creation and the building of XNA and subsequent commercial airlines move all are other indicators of the change. But, Fayetteville will always have the university (even though I suspect that NWACC will have 4 year degree programs within the decade).

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Sad fact is that the dealerships move is just one more indication that Fayetteville is becoming more of a bedroom community for NWA instead of the center of everything. Hank's move, the WAC location decision, NWACC's creation and the building of XNA and subsequent commercial airlines move all are other indicators of the change. But, Fayetteville will always have the university (even though I suspect that NWACC will have 4 year degree programs within the decade).

Re the Hanks building, I'm interested to see if the mall continues their push to keep out competitors and/or the "wrong" kind of retail out of there, like they've successfully done with the old Circuit City building.

Re the airport, as a Fayetteville resident I'd much rather have XNA, with its service to ~ 15 cities via jets rather than the old FYV's four cities via prop planes. Even if a new airport had been built nearer to Fayettville I'm not sure if it would have been as successful as XNA. XNA's also somewhat more central to the area's population.

Though I continue my complaint about its inconsistent naming at other airports and as used by flight crews...sometimes it's XNA, sometimes Northwest Arkansas, sometimes Fayetteville, sometimes Highfill, sometimes Bentonville.

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Re the Hanks building, I'm interested to see if the mall continues their push to keep out competitors and/or the "wrong" kind of retail out of there, like they've successfully done with the old Circuit City building.

Re the airport, as a Fayetteville resident I'd much rather have XNA, with its service to ~ 15 cities via jets rather than the old FYV's four cities via prop planes. Even if a new airport had been built nearer to Fayettville I'm not sure if it would have been as successful as XNA. XNA's also somewhat more central to the area's population.

Though I continue my complaint about its inconsistent naming at other airports and as used by flight crews...sometimes it's XNA, sometimes Northwest Arkansas, sometimes Fayetteville, sometimes Highfill, sometimes Bentonville.

Yes, the XNA location turned out to be the right decision although at the time it wasn't clear at all- WM had not grown into the company that it is today and Faytteville was the population center. I think the Tontitown location would have meant quicker construction of the north Springdale bypass and improvements to I540 plus greater economic benefits for Fayetteville but it is what it is. Having the No. 1 Fortune 500 company where it is has dictated all the changes and will continue to do so in the years to come. I just hope that that fact doesn't mean an economic decline for Fayetteville and all those vacant properties sit empty for years to come.

I also hope that WM's path doesn't follow that of former greats like Sears, GM, IBM, Blockbuster, AOL, etc. Being a relatively one company town has hurt many cities over time and the effect here would be enormous. Depending on the university is looking better all the time for Fayetteville.

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Re the Hanks building, I'm interested to see if the mall continues their push to keep out competitors and/or the "wrong" kind of retail out of there, like they've successfully done with the old Circuit City building.

To clarify this point, Hank's made the decision on the REA that kept Goodwill out of the Circuit City building and not the mall. Hank's thought it would devalue their vacant building. All the other area owners had approved an amendment allowing Goodwill to purchase the property. Goodwill's purchase price would have been a great comparable sale in the area too.

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To clarify this point, Hank's made the decision on the REA that kept Goodwill out of the Circuit City building and not the mall. Hank's thought it would devalue their vacant building. All the other area owners had approved an amendment allowing Goodwill to purchase the property. Goodwill's purchase price would have been a great comparable sale in the area too.

Least I know where to never buy furniture.

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I just have a problem with these companies that building things and then turn around 5 years later and move to Benton Co. I for one would much rather see a goodwill move into an empty building before having it sit empty for years.

Are they moving the Buick/GMC dealer up there as well? or keeping it in Fayetteville.

I wounder if companies are giving up on fayetteville? IMO, fayetteville will always be a center of something in NWA. Fayetteville will always be more of a city than the continuous sprawl that is Benton co. Not that Washington doesn't have their own problems.

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I just have a problem with these companies that building things and then turn around 5 years later and move to Benton Co. I for one would much rather see a goodwill move into an empty building before having it sit empty for years.

Are they moving the Buick/GMC dealer up there as well? or keeping it in Fayetteville.

I wounder if companies are giving up on fayetteville? IMO, fayetteville will always be a center of something in NWA. Fayetteville will always be more of a city than the continuous sprawl that is Benton co. Not that Washington doesn't have their own problems.

Yeah that was really horrible planning by Hank's. But not only did they close their Fayetteville location they closed the Bentonville location just to open another store in Rogers. I don't Fayetteville is on it's way to becoming the next Springdale. But it is noticeable that some companies have been enticed by the money made by the Walmart vendors and have moved up there.

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Apparently the Feltner Brothers are opening a second location in Fayetteville on College Ave. It will apparently be across from the Subaru south of Fiesta Square. This location will be larger than their location just off of Dickson St. So at least we'll have one more empty location filled. At least it seems we're having some activity going on around College Ave.

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  • 1 month later...

The empty Arby's has a sign up that says "Kosmos" is coming there soon. Add Feltner Bros new location just up College, and you have two downtown eateries opening midtown locations soon.

But are we sure Kosmos is opening a second location or are they possibly moving?

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I took some before pics- when the new place is built I'll post them and after pics.

Good for you getting pictures. I always wish I had gotten pictures before and after. I wish I had before pictures of College Avenue downtown. I also wish I had before pictures of Wedington in its various two lane incarnatoins prior to becoming the expressway that it now is.

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  • 5 weeks later...

The new Kosmos is lookin good. They are totally redoing that facade to make it look like greek columns.

There's a CUP notice in front of La Huerta. Anybody know what that is about?

I noticed that the old Bank of America in front of Evelyn Hills is no longer listed, and men were working today moving things out of it. Did someone buy/lease that property?

There really is a lot of activity on College right now with the new Kum & Go, McDonald's and Kosmos, as well as the construction project at the First Baptist Church.

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News to me. I haven't been able to find anything on that so far....

Its about parking. Maybe they were using some of the parking next door where Kum & Go is going. I saw more work going on at the former B of A building at Evelyn Hills. Looks like they were ripped up some cables, or something around the drive thru areas. I don't' see for sale signs anymore so I am thinking that building changed hands.

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Powerhouse Fitness has opened up in Evelyn Hills. They remodeled the former Pulse Fitness adjacent to ONF. They actually remodeled the basement of that half of the building, too. It contains weights and an MMA area with an octagon. Its pretty crazy. Its actually quite a large gym now, almost twice as large as before. Family Dollar also opened up in Evelyn Hills in th spot left vacant when Chuck E Cheese moved. That shopping center is definitely coming into vogue a little more lately. I think Ozark Natural Foods doing their extensive remodel and buying their building has brought a lot of more traffic and instilled confidence in tenants there. Lots of long term leases in there.

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Ah good to know about the Family Dollar, their Sunday ads sometimes have good deals...the one on 15th is too far away from me to ever bother with.

I got a mailer about that gym, they are certainly being aggressive pricing-wise. Not a gym guy though.

Agree about ONF, most any kind of general grocery store will be a solid, long-term draw.

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